WORKS 



OF 

/ 

REV. LEONIDAS L. HAMLINE, D. D., 

Late one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



EDITED BY 



REV. F. G. HIBBARD, D. D. 



VOLUME II. 

Miscellaneous Writings. 



mm 



r-ir- r W" 



C INC INN A T V.- 
HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN, 
NEW YORK: 
CARLTON AND LANAHAN. 
187-1. 



.lis 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by 

HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, 
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




^P 96 0314 68 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



THE second volume of Bishop Hamline's works has been 
delayed, from providential causes, far beyond the first in- 
tention. After the publication of the first volume an unex- 
pected amount and variety of edited matter was still left, from 
which, with what still remained unedited, it was, upon consul- 
tation, decided to issue a second. Material for a third is still 
left, some of which, at least, will probably find its way to the 
public eye in another form. 

It should be said that the "sketches and skeletons," with 
some other portions of the present volume, were never written 
with the remotest thought of publication, and it has not been 
without a sense of responsibility that they have been chosen 
for this purpose. Other matter of more varied interest to the 
common reader, and which had elicited more care of author- 
ship — matter relating more to the literary sphere — might have 
taken their place. But when it was considered that the ven- 
erable author was a minister of the Gospel, a bishop in the 
Church, and an illustrious pattern of personal and ministerial 
purity and fidelity, it appeared to be more in propriety of char- 
acter that he should, as far as possible, appear in, and speak 
from the pulpit. Especially was this decision confirmed by the 
reflection that this gave him a voice equally to pastors and to 
devout readers of all classes. A skeleton of a sermon is not 
an assemblage of dry bones, unsightly, unseemly, and, to the 
common reader, worthless ; but it is an orderly presentation of 
the living thoughts of a discourse. Exegetically it gives you 
the true idea of the text, and then puts you upon the track of 
discussion and application. The skeleton suggestively puts the 

3 



4 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



mind to thinking, working out its own conclusions and applica- 
tions. It affords material for reflection, reasoning, and devout 
thought. A great gain is secured by the simple announcement 
of text and theme. 

The brief plans here given from the mass of material of the 
same kind, are not all equally elaborated, or equally perfect. It 
is not as perfect specimens of the art that they are offered, but 
as specimens of the spontaneous workings of an ardent, culti- 
vated mind, in its first grappling with pulpit themes. Our au- 
thor never speaks without thought and point. Whatever a 
great mind thinks spontaneously, on any subject, is valuable — 
valuable as the probably true key to the subject, and as giving 
a hint at the law of its own workings. Perhaps nothing coui-d 
more truly and justly exhibit the mental order, but, above all, 
the uncompromising and earnest piety of the saintly author, 
than the strictly evangelical character of his themes. Spiritual 
religion was the home of his soul. 

Thus much has been said in abatement of any censure or 
criticism which might fall upon the editorial execution of this 
part of the work. It needs only be added, that for suggestive- 
ness, for original and professed thought, for the purpose of 
mental quickening of the reader, for the sharpening of the 
intellect, for finished specimens of argument, forensic, meta- 
physical, theological and popular, for practical and spiritual 
truth, few books of its proportions surpass it. 

F. G. H. 

Rochester, N. Y., March, 1871. 



CONTENTS. 



I. 

KETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



PAGE. 

I. Depravity of the Heart, n 

II. The Diverse Estimates of the Preaching of the 

Cross, 28 

III. On the Lord's-S upper, 33 

IV. Errors and true Ingredients of Prayer — Two 

Sketches, 40 

V. Personality and Work of Satan, .... 49 

VI. On Backsliding, 56 

VII. Christ our Advocate, 63 

VIII. The Portion of the Saints, ..... 66 
IX. The Son of Man Lifted Up, 76 

X. Gratitude, . . 81 

XI. The Heavenly State, . . . . . . .88 

XII. Reluctance of God to Punish Sinners, . . 94 

XIII. Friendship with Christ, 101 

XIV. Love of God's Law the Test of Piety, . . . 106 
XV. The True Glory of God, no 

XVI. The True Liberty, 115 

XVII. No Peace to the Wicked, 120 

XVIII. Christ's Lament over Jerusalem, . . . 124 

XIX. The Crown of Glory, ....... 131 

XX. On Loving God with all the Heart, 135 

XXI. Religious Responsibility for our Brother, . . 138 

XXII. Christian Decision, 144 

XXIII. The Pure in Heart,. 147 

5 



6 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

XXIV. The Vine and the Branches, .... 151 
XXV. Works of Mercy in the Judgment, . . .154 

XXVI. The Law of Liberty, 158 

XXVII. Jesus' Witnesses, 162 

XXVIII. Blessedness of Hungering and Thirsting after 

Righteousness, . . . . . . 166 

XXIX. Almost Persuaded to be a Christian, . .170 
XXX. The Way of Perdition, . . . 173 
XXXI. The Lord's Requirement, . . . . .178 

XXXII. Few Saved, ........ 180 

XXXIII, God a Consuming Fire, 180 

XXXIV. Jesus at the Grave of Lazarus, . . . 184 
XXXV. Sowing and Reaping, 186 

XXXVI. The Work and Spirit of a True Minister of 

Jesus Christ, 188 

XXXVII. Jesus the Savior, 190 

XXXVIII. Ability of Christ's Ministers, . . . 191 
XXXIX. Divine Impartiality, . . . . .193 

XL. Forgetfulness of God, 195 

XLI. The Throne of Grace, 197 

XLII. The Barren Fig-Tree, . . . . 199 

XLIII. The Faith of the Patriarchs, . . . .201 

XLIV. Ministerial Example, 203 

XLV. Entire Sanctification, 204 

XLVI. Walking in the Light, 206 

XLVII. The Apostles' Prayer, 208 

XLVIII. Complete Justification in Christ, . . . 210 



II. 

D DRES SES. 



I. Eloquence, 217 

II. African Colonization, 239 

III. The Church of God, - . 271 

IV. The Grave, 3°5 

V. Speech on the Case of Bishop Andrew, > 32.1 



CONTENTS. 



7 



in. 

HEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



PAGFJ. 

I. What is it to be Holy ? . - 347 

II. The Millennium, 356 

III, The Holy Ghost, 360 

IV. Arminianism, 369 

V. Arminianism in New England, , 378 

VI. Future Punishment, 388 

VII. Methodism — Providence, 409 

VIII. Faith not mere Speculation, 436 

IX, Omniscience of Deity, 442 

X. Millennium a State of General Holiness, . . 445 

XI. Eternal Sonship of Christ, 453 

XII. God Manifested in the Flesh, .... 472 

XIII. The New Birth, 478 

XIV. The Blindness of Universalism, . . . , 483 
XV. Superstition — Religion, 488 

XVI. The Moral Law the Law of Nature, . . . 489 
XVII. The Religion of Nature and of Grace, . . .493 



j^ART I. 

SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Sketches and Skeletons. 



i. 

DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART * 

" The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the 
law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans viii, 7. 

WE were, at the close of our former discourse 
(Sermons, p. 228), arguing the moral depravity 
of man from his general history, as a being originally 
holy, afterward fallen, and finally restored. We spoke 
of his original state as constituting an image of his 
Maker, and of his fallen state as implying a loss of 
that image in two particulars — in purity of affection, 
and in loss of happiness. We now proceed to expand 
the argument, under the former head, or particular, 
proving the radical depravity of the human heart from 

* This discourse was discovered, and forwarded to the editor, after 
the publication of the first volume. It was written as a third sermon 
on the " Depravity of the Heart," and should have thus appeared in 
that volume. The sermon is an expansion of the argument briefly 
touched in the second proposition of the second sermon of the series, 
and is an admirable specimen of the searching style and profound argu- 
mentation of the author, though not designed by him for publica- 
tion. — Ed. 

II 



12 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



its loss of pure affections. This our text declares in 
startling terms. The law of God requires two things, 
and only two, so far as it respects the heart, namely: 
I. That we love God with all the heart. 

II. That we love our neighbor as ourselves. 
I. First, then, let us attend to the inferior precept, 
Do unregenerate men love their neighbor as themselves f 

As we propose this question, how many enchant- 
ing scenes rise, as by magic, in the regions of your 
fancy — scenes of domestic peace and felicity — of 
fraternal, filial, and parental regard — of conjugal devo- 
tion, whose ardors death can not quench, and the 
grave can scarcely conceal ? You turn over the pages 
of memory, and point us to the records of your own 
faithful friendships — of sacred pledges given and re- 
deemed, of holy covenants sealed and executed — 
executed by sacrifices which you exultingly summon 
as witnesses to testify your love of mankind. 

The question is not whether you love your friends. 
This, in man, is scarcely a virtue. He who does not 
love his friend is worse than depraved, worse than 
imbruted. 

To say you love merely your friends, is to vindicate 
your inferior, but to implicate your superior nature. 
It is to praise you as an animal, but reproach you as 
a spirit. It is to say that in instinct you are fault- 
less, but in reason, reprobate. Will you be content 
to occupy the level of mere animals, when you may 
mount to the eminence of angels ? The question, then, 
we repeat it, is not whether you love your friends — 
do you love your neighbor as yourself? Neighbor 
and friend are not synonymous. Friend, as it is used 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



13 



by the world, is a term of contracted and selfish im- 
port. The word neighbor, as it is explained by Jesus, 
is as ample in extent as the human race. It fixes on 
the grand features of our common humanity as the 
only provocatives of sympathies pure and undegen- 
erate. Neighbor means both friend and enemy. It 
as certainly embraces our bitterest foe, as it does our 
dearest friend and kinsman. The vilest on earth love 
their friends. You may do it, and be equally vile. 
Listen to Jesus : " If ye love them that love you, 
what reward have ye ? Do not even the publicans so ?" 

If the love of friends be a virtue at all, it is so 
gross, so animalized, that the Savior deems it not to 
be a fulfillment of his law, and resolves that it shall 
not be rewarded. He declares that the publicans, 
who are to us the representatives of the vilest among 
men, did that which a pseudo-religionist would fain 
reckon to be a virtue of eminence. This love of 
friends may, for aught we know, prevail among in- 
fernal spirits. Reprobates must prosecute their war 
against Jehovah by some sort of amicable concert. 
Friendship, or some kindred term, may possibly 
exist in the vocabulary of devils. And Lucifer may 
dwell on the dignity of the angelic as complacently as 
men do on the dignity of human nature. The pre- 
cept commands you to love your neighbor as your- 
self. And neighbor is generic, embracing not only 
your lovers and your kindred, but your bitterest haters 
and revilers. Having the precept before us, let us 
turn to the question of fact. Do unregenerate men 
thus love their neighbors ? 

Look around you, and see what examples you can 



14 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



muster ! We want no examples in which friendships 
were interrupted, and were cemented again by recon- 
ciliation. We want examples in which irreligious men, 
men dwelling in your community, have loved those 
who were seeking to injure them. You know, with- 
out our testimony, that such men pass each other 
with eyes scornfully askance or sullenly averted, har- 
boring the spirit which gendereth murder. 

Would you know more still ? Go and search the 
code of the duelist. In the estimation of the world, 
he is a refined specimen of precious human nature — 
a diamond among its jewels. Coming up from the 
slaughter of his victim, with reeking hands and demon 
heart, he is admired as the personification of the sub- 
limest honor. Behold him in the midst of his crimes 
and his flatterers ; and, by the commandment of Jesus, 
judge both him and them. 

Man — love — his — enemies t Alas! he oftener drinks 
the blood of his friends. Man's unsanctified sym- 
pathies never reached an acknowledged foe. Con- 
science and cowardice may have sheathed the weapon 
and suppressed the curse, but love never filled the 
mouth with blessings, and the hand with gifts, for a 
deadly enemy, until the soul had been crucified with 
Jesus, and its corrupt affections nailed to the cross. 
You can not, in a century, find an example to im- 
peach this assertion ; but, in an hour, you can find 
millions to corroborate it. History unfolds them in 
records which are enough to turn midnight sick and 
pale. You need not even resort to history. Open 
your eyes, and you will become the spectators of con- 
vincing tragedy. You will see the strongest affinities 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART 



of our nature scorned and sundered by the irrepress- 
ible malignity of man's infernal passions. Does this 
flow from the inherent vices of his spirit, or is it a 
perpetual accident ? 

If man is equally inclined to vice and to virtue, 
might we not expect him to love his enemy at least 
as often as he murders his friend ? This, you will 
say, is the impulse of passion. Agreed ; and why 
does not the impulse of passion sometimes drive him 
in the opposite course ? 

We cite you to man's murderous malice toward his 
friends. Will you produce one unequivocal example 
of his love for his enemies? You may say that some, 
who knew nothing of religion, have scorned revenge. 
Scorned revenge ! Was it pride or charity which 
scorned revenge ? If pride, it was another form of 
depravity. Pride, in that instance, was a stronger 
passion than revenge, and the major vice devoured 
the minor. But, recollect that forgiveness is a virtue 
only when it proceeds from the purest love. 

Again: what is the tendency of human nature? 
Does the heart of man spontaneously forgive, or does 
it impulsively dictate revenge. If the heart feel re- 
venge, this proves its corruption. If reason and con- 
science overrule the passion, this shows, not that the 
heart is pure, but that the understanding, with its 
moral sense, is constrained by the fear of God. 

But, will- you object that Christians do not love 
their enemies ? We answer, such Christians as be- 
tray revengeful tempers confess — what is most true — 
that they are then under the dominion of human na- 
ture, and not under the control of Christianity. They 



16 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



testify to the doctrine of human depravity, by admit- 
ting that, when its dominion is broken, it often rallies 
from its retreats, assaults, and gains partial advan- 
tages over the unguarded heart But, if you intend 
that Christianity, in its own proper spirit, does not 
breathe love to enemies, we repel the insinuation. 
Look at Jesus, as he breathes his last prayer, sur- 
rounded by his sanguinary persecutors. Look at 
Stephen, as he kneels to die, pleading with Heaven 
to charge nothing to his murderers. 

Here the genius of Christianity is revealed in its 
undisguised perfection. It is a power of renovation 
to the soul of man, which, so far as it is felt in the 
heart, moves it to imitate these examples of forgive- 
ness. These examples are imitated by millions. In 
this holy temper, the martyrs bled, and the martyrs 
burned. In this temper, thousands are now journey- 
ing to heaven, 

" Little and unknown, 
Loved and prized by God alone." 

But, though obscure on earth, their sublime virtues 
attract the admiration of heaven, and will exalt them 
to the right hand of God. 

My friends, do not ascribe to Christianity the vices 
of human nature ; nor claim for human nature the 
virtues which belong to Christianity. These errors 
always happen when Christianity is charged with the 
defects of its confessors. If the pious love their en- 
emies, as Jesus did, Christianity hath done it. If, 
half backslidden, they hate their enemies, human na- 
ture hath done it. 

You may complain, that the precept, " Love your 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



17 



enemies," is not adapted to man's moral constitution. 
We answer, whether or not it be adapted to his moral 
constitution, it is suited to all holy things. If it be 
unsuited to man, it furnishes the most affecting evi- 
dence of his depravity. 

This very evidence facts supply. How little do 
the unregenerate care for this precept! They do not 
intend to fulfill, but aim to violate it. They trans- 
gress it without remorse. Nay, it is a point of honor 
to violate it, and they would almost suffer remorse 
for its observance. Their tempers are so at war with 
the precept, that they deem God insincere or mis- 
taken, in making such extravagant demands upon 
them. That God should command them to love their 
enemies, is, to them, as absurd as to command a man 
to see without eyes, hear without ears, or run up the 
eastern sky, and arrest the morning sun in his course. 
Finding their hearts and God's command at odds, 
they infer, not that their hearts are wrong, but that 
the law and the Law-Maker are wrong. 

And now we affirm, challenging proof that we are 
mistaken, that this precept, "Love your enemies" 
creates an everlasting distinction between holy and 
unholy beings. No holy being ever failed to love his 
enemies ; no unholy being ever yet, as such, accom- 
plished it. And we are now prepared to announce, 
also, an everlasting distinction between regenerate and 
unregenerate .men. No regenerate man, unless par- 
tially backslidden, ever failed to love, his enemy ; no 
unregenerate man ever yet accomplished it. Do not 
mistake this for a trifling distinction. It may seem 

to you narrow now, but it will soon expand into a 

2 



iS 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



breadth as dreadful as that which separates Lazarus 
from hell and despair. 

II. In the second place, let us turn our thoughts 
to the superior precept of the law, which demands 
love to God. If there be among the virtues one 
which ought to be considered supreme, it is the love 
of God. 

God is not only the most excellent being in the 
universe — the source and embodiment of all ideal 
loveliness and perfection — but, aside from his intrinsic 
beauties, which are infinite, his relations to us are so 
intimate and holy, as to render our obligations to love 
him paramount to all other duties. Yea, love to him 
becomes the true gauge and test of our own moral 
loveliness. But, if to love God is the supreme virtue, 
then not to love him is the supreme vice. Other 
offenses are aimed at the creature; but this, at the 
Creator in his own sacred person. Other sins, in com- 
parison with this, are petty treasons, which God will 
punish ; but this, of withholding his heart from his 
Maker, is high treason, which will be sorely avenged. 
That heart which can trifle with its highest obliga- 
tions, or resist the motives to a supreme virtue, may 
well be pronounced desperately wicked. If such a 
heart ever yield to the dominion of the moral virtues, 
its very first step must be to open its doors for the re- 
admission of that holy one, who reared the temple, but 
was expelled from its altars. 

And have the unregenerate done this ? Have they 
taken the first step toward moral virtue ? Have they 
begun to be any thing but rebels against God, by 
restoring God to the chief seat in their affections ? 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART 



1G 



Until they have done this, it is vain for them to talk 
about moral virtue. As well might Absalom have 
boasted of his filial piety and loyalty while his aged 
sire was banished to the wilderness, and he was pro- 
faning the scepter and the throne. 

We believe that no man, without regeneration, 
truly loves God. This we might confirm by several 
proofs. We can adduce but one, and that is, perhaps, 
the least. 

First, the unregenerate have no adequate curiosity 
to be acquainted with God. Curiosity is a strong pas- 
sion in the human mind. In the pursuits of science, 
it renders man wakeful and enterprising. It gives 
wings to his soul, and teaches it to soar. It impels 
him to traverse airy regions, and marshal for inspec- 
tion the starry hosts. It moves him over watery and 
terrene wastes, that he may drink in the joy of new 
discoveries, and revel in the riches of a creature 
universe. 

Urged on by a curiosity so ardent, we might expect 
him to seek high gratification in the sublime disclos- 
ures of religion. We might expect every contem- 
plative mind to dwell with rapture on the themes of 
the Christian revelation, and with holy ecstasy linger 
to adore beneath the cross. We might expect that, 
while the flame of his devotion is kindled at the 
manger — is fed in Gethsemane, and glows intensely 
on the summit of Calvary — all the power of hope 
would lay hold of his heart, tear it away from earth, 
and join the soul indissolubly to the beatitudes of 
heaven. 

Alas ! alas ! how remote are all such expectations 



20 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



from the sordid aims of unsanctified mind ! Here is a 
child of science. Day and night he bows down to the 
labor of his calling. He wearies not in his toilsome 
ascent from point to point, from summit to summit 
of successive, enchanting discovery. He aspires to 
the loftiest eminence of heaven, seeks the remotest 
horizon of the universe, and, with everlasting patience, 
wooes earth for a passage to her center, delving her 
surface to force his way. All the works of the eter- 
nal Maker are sought out by this genius of discovery. 
Hill, vale, river, and ocean ; cloud and sunshine ; light 
and darkness ; rain, hail, calm, and tempest ; the 
lightning's glance, and the voice of thunder — all these 
are his rich subsidies. He forms them into volumes 
of instruction ; he spreads them out as the diagrams 
of Nature, using them in the demonstration of her 
most sublime and subtle truths. 

As he wanders through these fields of discovery, 
he feasts on every disclosure of Nature, except one. 
What is that one ? It is one which, to a pure intel- 
ligence, would cast all others into oblivion, except as 
mere auxiliaries in the acquisition of this neglected 
truth, namely: That it is the office of Nature to re- 
flect the glories of her supreme Architect. 

Would any but a corrupt intelligence be unmindful 
of this great truth ? Would a devout philosophy, 
cautiously surveying this reflector, fail to discern, in 
its profound depths, enchanting images of Deity ? 

All within you exclaims, No. Reason, conscience, 
every thought, every sentiment of your inward na- 
ture, taken by surprise at the sudden appeal, joins in 
protesting against a philosophy so sacrilegious and 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



21 



profane. But, beware ! You reproach human nature. 
You impeach it of crime. Our unregenerate child 
of science perpetrates this philosophical sacrilege. 
He expatiates, with rapture, in every field of specula- 
tion and experiment, searching after every thing but 
God. He averts his eye from but one solitary object 
in the almost boundless circle of his vision — that is, 
God. He loathes no science in the universe, except 
it be the science of God and his government. With 
what amazing suddenness does he suffer repulsion 
when he happens to near a point in religion. How 
does he start and turn aside when Nature threatens 
an unexpected disclosure of the Deity, and of man's 
obligation to adore him ! How anxiously does he 
purge nature of God's presence, lest he must divide 
a portion of his regards to each ! How does he, like 
idiocy, admire the gilding and decorations of that 
mirror, into which, but for his passionate reluctance, 
he might gaze, and catch the reflected effulgence of 
Godhead S He loves Nature. He loves to traverse 
her almost illimitable domain, make his heaven in the 
light of her graces, and drink in her voices of har- 
mony. But, hear, O heavens ! he loves Nature chiefly 
in the absence of her God. Like Adam, who fled at 
the sound of God's footsteps, he feels the curse of 
sin upon his conscience ; and, as he bears that curse 
along with him in the survey of Nature, he wishes the 
traces of God's hand erased from all her works, his 
voice hushed in all her chambers, and his omniscient 
eye turned away forever. 

You will say, No. You will pronounce this to be 
the spirit of atheism. Yes, sirs ; and it is human 



22 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



nature. The atheist, and the mere Christian theorist 
are one in spirit, though two in speculation. The 
atheist is without God in the world ; but he is not 
alone in that dreary solitude. Every one born of the 
flesh, and not of the Spirit, is the atheist's companion 
in exile from God. You are a philosopher and a 
speculative Christian. With your philosophy and 
Christianity you started out, twenty-five years ago, on 
a voyage of discovery. You have employed one-fifth 
of a century in scaling the heavens, vexing the earth, 
and torturing the elements, to force from them their 
secrets. You have studied man in all his complexity. 
The grossest and most refined elements of his being — 
mortal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, in their 
isolated and blended forms — have provoked your ad- 
miration. Now, hearken. How many hours of 
these revolving years have you given to the study of 
religion ? How much rapture have you experienced 
in devout meditation on a theme so sublime ? What 
ecstasy has sprung up within you, mingled with the 
consciousness of God's presence and smile ? Do 
these appeals confuse your memory ? Then should 
they also plant a thorn in your conscience. 

If you have studied almost every thing but redemp- 
tion — have practiced almost every thing but devotion, 
and have been happy in almost every thing but the 
love of God shed abroad in you, what sort of a Chris- 
tian are you ? How does your religion transcend the 
grossest atheism ? 

Will you say that you have not, like the atheist, 
purged nature of nature's God ? Why have you not ? 
Merely because you could not do it. God will not 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



23 



be banished from his own universe ; and you, unlike 
the atheist, are not fool enough to expect it. But, 
what then ? You have expelled your Maker from 
every inch of territory which he permitted you to call 
your own. Like the atheist, you have dissevered 
God from your memory — you have exiled him from 
your heart. Who is most vile ? He who denies that 
God is, and then forgets him, or you, who confess his 
being and his claims, and boldly set both at defiance ? 
Is it worse to profane Deity, and then adore Na- 
ture, or to adore her, confessing her to be the suc- 
cessful competitor of Deity ? The atheist plucks out 
his eyes, and finds no God to worship. The theist 
fixes his eye on God, scorns his claims, loathes his 
presence, and yields his perverted affections to the 
creature. While the atheist is guilty, is this man in- 
nocent? The scales of His justice will weigh both ; 
and Omniscience will determine which is most vile, 
and which merits the heaviest curse. 

But you are resolved to be distinguished from the 
atheist. You are distinguished. His disease has as- 
cended and settled on the brain. Yours lingers about 
the heart, and ulcerates the seat of life. Your dis- 
orders are as inveterate as his ; but you have this 
advantage — your reason is preserved, and you may 
yet be persuaded to try a remedy. 

You may object that some unconverted men have 
been devout ' philosophers. Do not err, my beloved 
brethren. There is this amazing difference between 
your devout philosophers and ours. Yours make 
religion the handmaid of science, but ours make 
science the handmaid of religion. In yours, science, 



2 4 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



but in ours religion, is the mistress of the heart. In 
yours religion, but in ours science, is forced to wait 
and serve. Ours uses science as the angels did Ja- 
cob's ladder — they mount on it to heaven. Yours 
uses it as the pagans do their temples — for the safe- 
keeping of their idol gods. 

One can scarcely help but weep and smile at the 
poetic religiousness of some of these philosophers. 
Like the affectations of prudery, it proves that con- 
science dictates devotion, and, in convenient moods, 
aspires to it. Their religion, like tasteful drapery on 
a comely form, is meant to heighten charms already 
fascinating. They deem that even science is more 
attractive under a slight rouge of religion. 

My friends, has Jesus died to purchase showy deco- 
rations for souls pure and healthful ? Could such a 
trifle bring him from his throne ? No. His was a 
mission of salvation to the lost. His was a resurrec- 
tion work — a remanding of the dead in sins to life — 
a revocation from their moral graves of the loathsome 
victims of spiritual death. This dire necessity brought 
the Lamb of God from heaven, and offered him in 
sacrifice upon the cross. 

You speak of devout philosophers. Such there are. 
They, like Paul, have experienced the new birth. They 
use nature as their alphabet. For sublimer lessons, 
they employ a heavenly teacher. They study at the 
feet of Jesus, holding the Bible in their right hand. 
As to other philosophers, we rejoice when they let 
God alone, for their devotion is sure to vilify him. 
How often are religion and philosophy confounded! 
And the mistake is all on the side of philosophy. 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



25 



Religion is not so blind ; she is more expert at moral 
distinctions. 

Philosophy sometimes pauses in her walks, and 
diverts herself with glances at the tree of life. Now 
and then she scornfully stretches forth her hand, 
plucks a leaf or a blossom, and carelessly inwreathes 
it with her own prideful ornaments. But religion 
forever lingers where philosophy scarcely pauses. Re- 
ligion fixes her gaze where scarcely Philosophy glances. 
Religion tramples in the dust what Philosophy en- 
twines around her temples and bears upon her heart. 
Religion scorns every ornament but such as she 
plucks from the tree of life, and loathes all sweets but 
such as she expresses from its immortal fruit. So 
broad is the distinction between earth-born Philosophy 
and heaven-born Religion. 

That our minds, so curious and excursive, should 
avoid religious meditation, should find the character 
and providence of God barren of rich and entertain- 
ing discoveries, is a wonderful phenomenon — it needs 
to be accounted for. Can you trace it to the intel- 
lect? Never. Controlled by its own genius, it would 
build its habitation in these sacred regions, and dwell 
there forever. In God's moral reign, in Christ's re- 
deeming offices, the pure mental tastes of man find 
sweeter satisfactions than in all the creature universe. 
Here is the realm of the profoundest philosophy, the 
elements of the highest culture. Why, then, does he 
turn from themes so grateful to his intellect? What 
portion of his nature conceals the fatal power which 
repels him from his Savior and his God ? 

It is his heart. The repulsive force is moral, and 

3 



26 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



is supplied by his affections. In relation to his Maker, 
man's mental and moral tendencies are in fierce con- 
flict. God is his center, toward which the law of his 
moral being- should impel him. His mind inclines to 
that point of blessed attraction. But his affections 
avert from God, with a force too strong to be resisted, 
except by grace Almighty. Not seeking that prof- 
fered aid, he is driven farther and farther from the 
Source of light and joy, till he is lost in the abysses 
of unfathomable night. 

My unconverted hearers, we are laboring to show 
that you do not love God, and are therefore depraved. 
Have we labored in vain ? Not in vain. You may 
not be convinced ; but your unbelief is proof, above 
all argument, of that which you disclaim. If argu- 
ment alone should convince you of your sinfulness, 
that conviction would make against the doctrine. 
That argument and Scripture should not convince 
you is its strongest confirmation. Argument assails 
the understanding ; but your error is of the heart. 
Willful unbelief is beyond the reach of argument. It 
can be approached and conquered only by Omnipo- 
tence. 

No fact is more certain than the depravity of your 
hearts. It is sustained by threefold proof. First, by 
Scripture and by argument, we implicate you as de- 
praved; second, resisting both, you implicate your- 
selves; and, for a third witness, we summon your own 
consciousness. Do you love God? We appeal to 
yourselves. Answer like a philosopher, if that suits 
you best. Remember what love is, and how it acts ; 
consider what is love to God — such a God as philoso- 



DEPRAVITY OF THE HEART. 



27 



phy discloses — search your heart and scan your life, 
and then answer to your conscience, do you love 
God ? Unconverted man, you know, as surely as you 
know you have a memory, that you care not for God. 
You know that at any hour of your life — in any 
place, in any mood — the veriest trifle in the universe, 
a worm, an atom — is to you of deeper interest than 
all the majesty and glory of heaven's eternal King. 
You know that your inductive philosophy always 
stops short of God as the efficient cause, " by whom 
are all things ;" and your admiration of final causes 
is simply scientific — not religious — refusing the tribute 
of devout adoration of Him "for whom are all things." 
The discovery of the adaptations of nature provokes 
your wild eurekas ; but, with you, it is the discovery 
only of a system of laws and correlations, and "you 
have not looked unto the Maker thereof." If we lift 
the veils from heaven, and unfold to you the glories 
which fix the gaze of angels, with averted eyes and 
revolted hearts, you will congeal into monuments of 
the sin and fall of Adam, and will stand the sad ex- 
amples of that perfect moral ruin which overwhelms 
all the generations of his children. 

Thus, in conclusion, are we thrown back upon the 
corollary, which we have again and again brought to 
view, that a depravity thus seating itself in the spirit- 
ual nature, can be overcome only by a supernatural 
power. Man's recovery to holiness is so far from be- 
ing by an inherent tendency of his moral constitution, 
that the Scriptures every-where represent it as the 
result of foreign influences, directly conflicting with 
and counteracting the evil bias of that constitution. 



28 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



The Holy Spirit is man's restorer, and against that 
Spirit, the flesh, and all that is from the flesh, ever 
lusteth. The fathers and the children "resist the 
Holy Ghost," often to their own undoing. Every 
motion of man toward spiritual life is by the impulse 
of God's Spirit. The elements of holiness are not in 
his nature, and can not be developed by culture. It 
is "not of ourselves; it is the gift of God." The 
change from sin to holiness is not slight, but radical ; 
not by education, or the formation of new habits, but 
a " new creation." If the human heart ever truly 
loves God, it is not by excitations of motive influence, 
but because " the love of God is shed abroad in the 
heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." 



II. 

THE DIVERSE ESTIMATES OF THE PREACH- 
ING OF THE CROSS. 

" For the preaching of the cross is to the??i that perish foolishness; but 
unto us which are saved it is the power of God.' 1 '' I Corinthians i, 1 8. 

I. Human reason, uninfluenced by divine grace, 

NEVER COULD APPROVE OF THE GOSPEL AND YIELD 
IT CREDENCE. 

The reasons for this fact are, 

1. It reveals human depravity. This is humiliating, 
and pride would reject it. 

2. It reveals one God, which is opposed to Poly- 
theism, the error so natural to man. 



DIVERSE ESTIMATES OF PREACHING. 29 



3. It reveals a Trinity in that Unity, which is more 
complex to reason than simple unity, 

4. It reveals the incarnation of One person of the 
Godhead. Deeper mystery. 

5. It reveals the crucifixion and. death of the incar- 
nate God. Still deeper. 

6. It reveals his death as penal — "for sin;" as vi- 
carious — "for our sins;" as propitiatory — "to bring 
us to God." O, what mysteries ! How absurd to 
proud reason ! The most unlikely to gain the least 
credence on earth ! 

7. The Holy Spirit as azvakening, helping, and re- 
newing our nature. 

8. The last mystery is faith. "He that believeth 
shall be saved." Believeth what? All these mys- 
teries — these doctrines, notwithstanding these mys- 
teries. 

How impossible it is for human reason, without 
divine aid, to approve such doctrines is shown from 
the facts : 

1. That no such system was ever devised by hu- 
man wisdom. No system of polytheism discovers it. 
The heathen idea of worship by sacrifice, as a pro- 
pitiation and atonement, was imperfect and crude, 
and was borrowed traditionally from, patriarchal usage. 
The idea sprung from divine wisdom, not human, and 
the heathen corrupted and obscured it. 

2. When- Christ was first preached, the first re- 
sponse of human wisdom was disgust, branding it 
with "foolishness!' This was the voice of the Gre- 
cian philosophy, then the prevailing type. This 
was the voice of the common superstition the world 



30 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



over. The history of the "ten Gentile persecutions," 
and of the early controversies on the Christian sys- 
tem, reveals this fact. The history of missionary 
labor among all heathen nations, who have a lit- 
erature, proves it. The history of all systems of 
infidelity, unitarianism, indifferentism, and human 
morality, as a reliance for justification before God, 
proves it. 

3. The text does not say that the preaching of the 
cross is foolishness, nor that it is repulsive to right 
reason, but that it is thus only " to them that perish ;" 
thus it appears from their stand-point. 

II. Divine power alone has gained for the Gospel a 

DOMINANCY OVER THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF MEN. 

Here observe two particulars : 

1. It is to " the saved" that the Gospel is "the 
power of God." 

If men would contemplate the system of doctrine 
centering in the cross, they must behold it from the 
Christian, the practical stand-point. If they would 
prove it to be the power of God, they must submit 
to God and accept his truth. 

The disciple, or learner only, is led to the true 
knowledge and appreciation of science. The patient 
who receives the medicines is the best prepared to 
appreciate its virtues. The moral state of the proud 
rejecter, or indifferent neglecter, of Christ is not in 
mood or capacity to understand or weigh his doctrines. 
The power of truth, by the Holy Spirit, is often such 
as to command assent and reverence where it effects 
no radical reformation. But it "saves" only when fully 
believed and obeyed. 



DIVERSE ESTIMATES OF PREACHING. 3 I 



2. The completeness of this power of the cross over 
the saved. 

(1.) They have the fullest confidence in it as a pro- 
vision of salvation. How complete is their confidence 
in its power to save from sin here — how perfect their 
hope of the life to come — their victory over the fear of 
death, the grave, judgment ! Death of saints proves it 

(2.) They have the fullest confidence in the Gospel 
as a preceptive code. As they yielded to conviction 
and reproof, they saw their own sins and errors, and 
the perfect truth and purity of the law. They see 
that the Gospel only reproves their pride, not their 
reason. They believe all the Word. The mysteries 
prove the doctrine to be from God ; the revealed 
truths prove it to be adapted to man. 

(3.) The most repulsive truths to the natural heart 
are the most gustful and precious to the saved — " To 
you who believe he is precious ;" "His name is above 
every name;" "Altogether lovely and chiefest," etc. 
Such truths are the incarnation, the cross, atonement, 
regeneration, sanctification. 

(4.) The Gospel is not merely a system of rules and 
prescriptions, but of "pozver." It not only defines 
what we ought to be, and tells what we should do, 
but it " helps our infirmities." It lifts human nature 
to a higher sphere, and empowers it to do works and 
achieve ends above the reach of the natural ability. 
Hence, it is the power of God to them, and in them, 
that are saved. The saved soul can love his enemies, 
deny himself, overcome sin, exhibit a life of holiness, 
even die for Christ. These are all above nature. 
These are works of power—the power of God. The 



3 3 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



works of faith are works of Divine power assisting 
our nature. " This is the work of God, that ye be- 
lieve on him whom he hath sent." 

INFERENCES. 

1. If Jesus Christ is not God, he is the greatest of 
impostors. By how much his pretensions are greater 
than all human impostors, by so much does he sur- 
pass them all if his doctrine is not true. 

2. The wisdom or folly, truth or falsehood, of the 
preaching of the cross must be tested by human ex- 
perience, and is susceptible of human testimony. The 
opposing witnesses are, on the one hand, " the saved" 
on the other, "them that perish? The proof lies in 
showing it to be the "power of God." If the Gospel 
produces no supernatural fruit in "the saved," their 
testimony proves nothing. It must be so clearly 
from God, that the world shall see. While the ma- 
gicians could imitate the miracles of Moses, they 
simply held him to be an expert magician like them- 
selves. But, when he went beyond their power of imi- 
tation, they confessed, " This is the finger of God." 

3. Here, again, is the dividing line between the 
world and Christ. Their different estimates of the 
cross will keep them apart. When a religion loses 
the reproach of the cross, it loses its Christian type. 
When preaching is admired by the worldly, the proud, 
the vainly wise, it has forsaken the cross. It is as 

v true now as in Paul's time, and will remain true to 
the end of time, that " the preaching of the cross is 
to them that perish foolishness ; but unto us which 
are saved it is the power of God." 



THE LORD'S-SUPPER. 



33 



III. 

ON THE LORD'S-SUPPER. 

" For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto 
you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took 
bread" etc. I Corinthians xi, 23-26. 

The text refers to one of the sacraments of the 
Church. 

I. Division of sacraments, as to periods. 

1. Paradisial — Tree of Life. 

2. Patriarchal — Sacrifices, Rainbow, and Circum- 
cision. 

3. Mosaic — Passover. 

4. Christian — Baptism and Lord 's- Supper. 

II. Division of the sacraments into temporal and 

SPIRITUAL. 

1. As to the former — the Rainbow. 

2. As to the latter — Passover and Christian Sacra- 
ments. 

A further difference between the two is, that 
sacraments referring to expiation, or the forgiveness 
of sins, are sanguinary, either in fact or symbol. 
They are either bloody rights, or they are significant 
of blood. The passover was a bloody rite ; the Lord's- 
Supper is symbolical of bloodshed. Baptism, which 
symbolizes, not expiation, but the renewing of the 
heart by the Holy Ghost, is not significant of blood, 
which is the symbol of atonement, but of the purify- 
ing grace of the Holy Ghost. Baptism answers to 
circumcision ; Lord 's- Supper to the passover. 



34 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



The first is initiatory — brings into the Church. 
The second is commemorative and disciplinary. 
The Christian sacraments differ from the former in 
simplicity, frequency, significancy, and utility. 
A sacrament is thus defined: 

"Sacraments ordained of Christ, "says our Sixteenth 
Article of Religion," are not only badges or tokens of 
Christian men's profession, but rather they are cer- 
tain signs of grace, and God's good-will toward us, 
by the which he doth work invisibly in us, and doth 
not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our 
faith in him." 

The word sacrament is not a Scriptural term, but 
is of very ancient usage in the Christian Church. It 
signified the penal sum of money deposited by par- 
ties going to law, which became forfeit to the State 
by the losing party. It also signified the military 
oath which soldiers took on being mustered into the 
Roman army. It was used in the sense of the Greek 
word [lUGTypiov (mysterj) by the early Church, partly 
because that under external symbols certain spiritual 
blessings were reached, and partly because it was 
often celebrated in secret. Thus, in i Tim. iii, 16 ; 
Rev. i, 20, the word mystery is in the Latin Vulgate 
rendered saci'ameut. 

Two things are comprehended in a sacrament — the 
sign and the thing signified. The sign is material 
and visible, and addressed to the senses ; the thing 
signified is some blessing or privilege which is assured 
to him who partakes worthily of the outward sign. 
The blessing connected with baptism is regenerative ; 
that connected with the eucharist, the expiation of 



THE LORD'S-SUPPER. 



35 



sin by Christ's death, and the feeding on him by 
faith. 

The sacrament, or mystery itself, consists in a 
union between the sign and the thing signified. This 
union consists of three particulars : 

1. The signiftcancy of the sign, by which it conveys 
an idea of the blessings. 

2. The verity of the sign, by which it assures of the 
blessing. 

3. The doctrine of the institution, by which the 
blessings assured to us are mentally exhibited. 

We now proceed to speak of the Lord's-Supper 
particularly : 

1. Let us consider it as a memorial of the real, his- 
toric existence of Jesus Christ. The Lord's-Supper 
is now received by you, and the Christian world, as 
a monumental proof that such a person as Jesus 
Christ did exist. It can be proved, both by the flood 
of Christian writers, and also by heathen authors, that 
this institution was observed by the Church, or fol- 
lowers of Jesus, from the very age and time of Christ's 
advent. Now, consider how impossible it would have 
been for so many thousands and millions of people 
to have been deceived on such a question of fact. If 
no such person as Jesus Christ ever existed, how 
could the first and subsequent disciples have been 
made to receive so solemn an institution in commem- 
oration of an event which they never knew of, and 
which they had abundant means of disproving ? Mon- 
uments and medals, it is well known by the historian, 
furnish the strongest possible proof of the reality of 
the facts which they commemorate. Does not our 



36 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



national anniversary, on the fourth of July, turn the 
eye of the nation back to the great reality of the war 
which broke the foreign yoke and made us a free 
people ? And how impossible to have imposed on 
this nation the observance of such an anniversary 
day, had we never passed, as a people, from colonial 
oppression to nationality and freedom ! The same 
principles of evidence apply to the eucharist, as a 
memorialistic testimony of the historic reality of the 
person and history of Jesus Christ. But 

2. It is a memorial specially of his death. This it 
professes to be. " Ye do show forth the Lord's 
death," says the apostle. Like the other, it would 
be impossible to impose this doctrine on you, if it 
were not founded in the truth of history. But it is 
not Christ's death, as a mere historic fact, that is set 
forth, but as an atonement for sir*. The fact would be 
of little avail without the doctrine. And observe, we 
not only assert Christ's death as an article of our 
faith, but we "show forth" that death. There is a 
representation of it. The scenes of Calvary are re- 
produced, and the moral effect of them illustrated 
by acts. The sacrament is hence called a " sign? 
The signs used are certain elements and certain ac- 
tions in regard to those elements. The elements are 
bread and wine. The actions, which are signs, are 
" breaking bread," denoting the breaking of Christ's 
body for us — " He was bruised for our iniquities " — - 
and eating the bread — " take, eat" — denoting our per- 
sonal participation, by faith, of that offered body. The 
wine represents the blood of Christ — "this cup is the 
new testament in my blood " — its being poured out, 



THE LORD'S-SUPPER. 



37 



the shedding of that blood, and its reception by us, 
our acceptance by faith of the atonement for sin by 
his blood-shedding. Here is a divinely appointed sig- 
nificancy of the elements, the actions, and the words 
of the sacrament. Thus, the doctrines of our guilt 
and misery, of the provisions for pardon, sanctifica- 
tion, and eternal life, and of our actual participation 
in these blessings, are set forth by signs. 

Kindred to this, yet distinct, is the mystical or 
sacramental idea of a "seal" by this sacrament. To 
illustrate the distinction between a sign and a seal, let 
us suppose: 

• You buy a farm which you never saw. Two facts 
are supposed : 

(i.) A plat or description — a sign. 

(2.) A deed of conveyance, a deed executed with all 
due solemnities — a seal. 

The property is yours. You may enter upon it, 
and enjoy it, being careful not to operate its forfeiture, 
or by non-seizure lose your interest. 

The sacrament assures to us as a seal what it 
directly sets forth as a sign, namely, body and blood of 
Christ as our expiation. 

Real presence is here ; not transnbstantiation, nor 
consubstantiation ; not physical, but real presence. 
Christ's body being present would imply no good. To 
feed on his flesh would do no good. But his real 
spiritual presence implies a blessing. 

3. This sacrament is not only a sign and seal of 
our interest in Christ, and our union with him, but 
of our union with one another also. 



33 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



This union is denoted by the word communion. 
"The bread which we break, is it not the communion 
of the body of Christ ? The cup of blessing which 
we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of 
Christ?" i Cor. x, 16. The "communion" is not 
only a participation of Christ's body and blood by the 
individual believer, but a sign of a common, social, 
or fraternal participation. The same idea of social 
oneness is conveyed in the words "feast" "supper" 
applied to this institution. The Jews were forbidden 
to eat the passover alone, or in a solitary way. It 
was to them a social feast. (See the social idea re- 
ferred to, I Cor. v, 7-8.) This unity of the body of 
believers is further illustrated by this sacrament in 1 
Cor. x, 17, "For we being many are one bread and 
one body : for we are all partakers of that one bread ;" 
that is, as the one loaf is divided into many parts, yet 
one loaf, so the Christian body partaking is one body, 
yet many members. The oneness of the loaf denotes 
the unity of the Church, while the breaking of it into 
many parts denotes the separate individuality of the 
members. How can we profess a common faith in the 
one Savior, and not be bound together by the com- 
mon bond of his divine charity into one body? 

4. This sacrament is of perpetual obligation. "As 
oft as ye do it," denotes a perpetually recurring ob- 
servance of it — unlike baptism, which is to be received 
but once. "Ye do show forth the Lord's death till 
he come" is a plain command to the Church to con- 
tinue its solemn observance till Christ shall return to 
judge the world — till the end of time. 



THE LORD' 'S-S UPPER. 



39 



INFERENCES. 

1. How condescending is Jesus ! How mild and 
merciful the bloodless rites of the New, as compared 
with those of the Old Testament ! 

2. How carefully should we prepare ourselves for 
the sacrament of the Lord 's- Slipper ! 

Context. — Sancta Sanctis — Holy things for the holy. 

3. How guilty are they who neglect this sacrament ! 
It is to reject Christ, as the Jews did. It is a more 
heinous sin than all others we ever committed. 

Jews killed prophets, and God overlooked or for- 
gave. But their rejection of Christ, O look at the 
consequences ! Eighteen hundred years of wrath, 
and the vengeance flows in floods as deep and over- 
whelming as ever ! Sinner, neglect this sacrament, 
and you reject Christ, and he will say, "Hidden from 
thine eyes '■" This afternoon, come take, eat. Resolve, 
vow unto God once more. Our whole life should be 
a sacrament. Our actions should be pictures of a 
Christ-like purity. Our words should be echoes of 
the voice of Christ in us. Like the sacramental 
bread and wine which we partake, our being should 
be consecrated. Our souls, nourished by Christ, and 
our bodies, inhabited by him, should be so changed 
from the carnal and the sensual that the saying may 
come to pass in us, " As he is, so are we in this 
world." 



40 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



IV. 

ERRORS AND TRUE INGREDIENTS OF PRAYER. 

FIRST SKETCH. 

" Ye have not becmise ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not because ye ask 
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your hests." James iv, 2, 3. 

Nothing is more difficult than to discuss a theme 
of popular conversation so as to interest and affect 
the heart. As the sublimest scenes in nature become 
tame to those who dwell among them, so the most 
interesting truths are viewed with indifference when 
divested of the charm of novelty. 

The theme of our present discourse is of this very 
character. 

Nothing can relieve us of embarrassment, except 
it be that interest in the subject which religion begets 
in the new-born soul. 

Our theme will be the errors and the true ingre- 
dients of prayer. We will first speak of formal 
prayer, and, secondly, of the essence, or essential 

ELEMENTS OF PRAYER. 

I. Formal Prayer. By this I mean prayer as to 
some of its modes, or accidents, or as it is liable to be 
affected or modified by circumstances. And here we 
notice, 

1. Infrequency of prayer. This is a damaging, and 
often a fatal error. Note contrary examples of Daniel, 
ch. vi, 10; David, Ps. lv, 17, and cxix, 164. "Pray 
without ceasing." 1 Thess. v, 17. 



ERRORS AND INGREDIENTS OF PR A YER. 4 1 



David says : " I give myself unto prayer." Ps. cix, 4. 
That is, like the merchant to trade, or the husband- 
man to labor. I devote myself to prayer. Prayer is 
the soul's trading with heaven, and should be con- 
stantly driven. 

2. Partiality is an error. You should pray with 
the confessory, supplicatory, gratulatory, intercessory 
parts of prayer. The Jews had various sacrifices or- 
dained for them, as ^-offerings, peace-offerings, and 
//^/^-offerings, and none of them might be Omitted. 
In petition and confession we are men, in intercession 
and thanksgiving we are angels ; ay, in intercession 
we are, in a humble sense, mediators, priests. 

3. To pray acceptably, we must use all kinds of 
prayer. 

(1.) Mental, as Hannah did when Eli reproved her. 
1 Sam. i, 14. 

(2.) To call aloud. Ps. lxxvii, 1. 

(3.) Ejaculatory, or a sudden rising of the heart to 
God. Neh. ii, 4. 

(4.) Prescribed prayer. Such is the Lord's Prayer. 
God prescribed a form of blessing for the Jewish 
priests, (Num. vi, 22-26.) The Book of Psalms is 
full of these forms of prayer, confession, thanksgiving, 
and blessing. 

(5.) Public prayer, in the audience of men. 

Prayer is represented as more efficacious when 
many are met and engaged as one in its performance. 
Matt, xviii, 19. 

Also, verse 18: It is binding things on earth that 
shall be bound in heaven. 

These several kinds of prayer are necessary to in- 
4 



42 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



spire and support each other, as air, food, etc., are all 
necessary to life. 

II. The essential elements of prayer. 

The medicine can not be good without the right 
ingredients. The ingredients are, 

1. Faith. " Let him ask in faith." James i, 6. 
Believe that God is, and that he rewards them that 

diligently seek him. Realize it. Believe he is love. 
Believe he is faithful. Believe he has promised. 
Study the promise. Get its meaning, its fullness. 

Without faith, prayer has no wings. Faith is to 
prayer what the feather is to the arrow, causing it to 
fly swiftly and pierce the heavens,. 

Faithless prayer is fruitless prayer. 

2. Repentance. " The sacrifices of God are a broken 
spirit/' The incense was to be beaten in ancient times, 
and the heart must be broken in acceptable prayer. 

Weeping prayer prevails with God. The tear-drop 
of penitence is a pearl in heaven. 

When Jacob wept, his prayer had power over the 
angel. The Psalmist expected God to "put his tears 
into his bottle and write them in a book." Ps. lxvi, 8. 

"A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt 
not despise." 

3. Fervency. " The effectual, fervent prayer of a 
righteous man availeth much." 

Cold prayers, without zeal and fervency, are like a 
sacrifice without fire. Prayer is called a pouring out 
of the soul to signify vehemency. It is compared to 
incense. "Let my prayer be set forth as incense." 
Ps. xiv, 12. Coals were put under the incense, that 
it might become fragrant. 



ERRORS AND INGREDIENTS OF PR A YER. 43 



Prayer without fervency is speaking, not praying. 

Fervency baptizes prayer — gives it its name. 

Sleep when we apply for God's favor-— friendship — 
love! For the life of our souls ! 

The promise is only to fervency. "Then shall ye 
find me when ye search for me with all your heart." 

4. Sincerity. This respects the purity of our mo- 
tives, the singleness of our aims. Our eye must be 
single. "Ye ask and receive not because ye ask 
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" that is, 
upon your pleasures — what is pleasing and gratifying 
to you, not simply and singly what will glorify God. 

Solomon chose wisdom before riches, and God 
granted him both wisdom and wealth — had he asked 
wealth, most probably he would have gained neither. 
If in prayer our aims are holy, they will return to us 
like the merchant's ship from a successful voyage, 
bringing expected and unexpected gifts. But if we 
seek forbidden or unwarranted favors, our prayers will 
be like the brook whose waters are dried up. 

5. Stability is essential to prayer. "Blessed is 
the man that endureth temptation ;" " Be ye stead- 
fast, immovable, always abounding in the works of 
the Lord." A pillar is steadfast, not immovable ; a 
mountain is immovable. Since the fall, the mind is 
like quicksilver — the affections will not adhere to one 
object or stay in one position. They rove continually, 
and display a guilty levity even in prayer. O, how 
indecent, as well as profane, to trifle before God ! In 
the presence of the kings of earth we would not 
laugh while we presented our petition. Angels are 
solemn and intent in their gaze at God — shall we 



44 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



worship him with levity? To fix our minds we 
should fix our eyes. You can not keep the house 
safe while the windows are open. If we would have 
our hearts fixed in prayer, we must love God. Pray 
for love, zeal, fixedness, faith. 

6. We fail in prayer for lack of argument. God 
loves to have us plead with him. Jacob said, " De- 
liver me, I pray thee," etc. He argues, 

(i.) The Divine command — "The Lord which said 
unto me, return unto thy country." Gen. xxxii, 9. 

(2.) The Divine promise: "Thou saidst, I will 
surely do thee good," and he received a blessing. 

God loves to be conquered by argument. Plead 
his grace. Every drachm cost a drop of blood. His 
bosom is full of mercy, and shall his children die? 
Plead his promise. 

7. Prayer must be humble. " God resisteth the 
proud, but giveth grace to the humble ; " He knoweth 
the proud afar off." Consider the Pharisee at the 
temple. 

8. Prayer must be joined with reformation. "If I 
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear 
me." 'T is foolish to pray against sin, and then sin 
against prayer. The incense of devotion should go 
up from a clean altar to find acceptance. 

9. Prayer should be definite. Make out an inven- 
tory of your wants. 

10. Prayer should be in the name of Christ. Speak 
his name in prayer, and plead his merits. There can 
be no offering made to God but by the price of his 
appointment. If Christ is the high priest of our 
profession, he must enter for us into the holy of 



ERRORS AND INGREDIENTS OF PR A YER. 45 



holies. We can not find acceptance with God with- 
out a victim. Christ is the Lamb. We can not 
make the sacrifice without a prophet to direct us. 
Christ is our prophet. 

11. Prayer should be by the Holy Ghost. "The 
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us." Rom. viii, 26. 

12. Lastly ; success in prayer requires patience. 

Note the difference between patience and indiffer- 
ence. Patience has a near sight of God, and a great 
confidence in his goodness. Indifference has no eye 
to behold God, and no heart to confide in him. 

REASONS FOR PRAYER. 

1. God is the source of all good and comfort. "Do 
not err, my beloved brethren, every good gift," etc. 
James i, 17. God has appointed prayer as the means 
of procuring it. " If any of you lack wisdom, let him 
ask of God." James i, 5. 

2. Prayer will make us like God. We imitate those 
whose company we keep. By prayer, the soul is 
brought into the most intimate and reverent contem- 
plation of truth, especially of God, his attributes, 
character, commands, and promises. This steadfast, 
admiring, and adoring gaze of faith into the Divine 
character, and the plan of salvation, has a transform- 
ing influence — "Beholding as in a glass the glory of 
the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." To 
the soul that loves God, and is in sympathy with him, 
prayer is the most powerful assimilation of the whole 
being to God, as it is the nearest approach to him. 
Our hearts are made tender, teachable, and impress- 



4 6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



ible. We see ourselves in the light of infinite love 
and purity, and, through our quickened perceptions, 
lively sensibilities, strong desires, and vigorous faith, 
are assimilated to God's image by the Holy Spirit. 
It is not the formal expression of our wants, but the 
assimilation of our natures to God, which makes prayer 
efficacious and prevailing. " Draw nigh to God." 



SECOND SKETCH. 

" Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss." James iv, 3. 

I. We miss in regard to the object. 

1. We pray for feeling instead of faith. 

2. We pray for happiness instead of for holiness. — 
(Fletcher.) 

3. We pray for ourselves, and not for others. — 
(Prayers for all men.) 

4. We pray for our friends, and not for our foes. — 
(Pray for them who despitefully use and entreat us.) 

No attitude of a Christian is so pleasing to God 
as when he pleads for blessings on an enemy. 

You would love your child more that pleads with 
you to forgive its brother for having struck the sup- 
pliant than any other attitude. Jesus s dying prayer 
was not for friends hut foes. 

II. We miss the manner — Closet, family, social, 
sanctuary, ejaculatory. Support each other. (Black- 
stone, " Sciences flourish best," etc.) So piety. 

III. We miss the spirit of prayer — Confession, 
supplication, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. 



ERRORS AND INGREDIENTS OF PRAYER. 47 



IV. We miss the motive. " That ye may consume it 
upon your lusts " — that is, upon your pleasure — what is 
pleasing and gratifying to you, not what will glorify God. 

V. We miss the medium — Jesus Christ. I am 
poor but hold a rich man's order ; his name is Me- 
dium. I, condemned, entreat sheriff or judge in vain. 
But I get my reprieve. Name of executive is Medium. 
(John xiv, 13, 14; xv, 16; xvi, 23, 24, 26.) 

VI. If we get the right medium we miss, expect- 
ing little more with than without Christ's name. It 
is equally presumptuous to ask any blessing without, 
and not ask large ones with, Christ's name. It is a 
direct insult to Christ to suppose that, with his name 
to plead, we can not get the largest blessings ; and 
when we want a loaf, ask a slice, as though that name 
were not good for all we need. We ask for pardon 
when we should plead for sanctification — for more 
love when we should ask for perfect love. Take 
away all iniquity (Hosea xiv), not some. This will 
fully appear under the next head. 

VII. We miss by not knowing and pleading the 
promises. We are prone to address our pleas to 
God's mercy, not to his truth. The patriarchs said, 
" Lord, thou didst promise, saying, Unto thee will I 
give this land" We should treasure up God's prom- 
ises as so many drafts on his power and love, and, 
like the man who has gone to the bank and forgotten 
his draft, and runs back after it, if we get into our 
closets without a promise, we had better put out the 
fires of the altar awhile, and run to the Bible for a 
promise. And then let us claim all the promises, or 
we offend. 



4 8 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Soldiers to fight for Jesus need rations. Jacob 
wrestled with promises not recorded as ours, but re- 
membered simply. (Gen. xxxii, 12.) 

VIII. We miss by not persevering. (Luke xi, 18.) 
Wrestling Jacob. Perseverance shows earnestness and 
decision. 

IX. We miss by allowing our lives to defeat 
our prayers. (John xv, 7.) And, "if my words 
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be 
done." ' We ask for grace to keep us from temptation, 
then run right into temptation. We ask for humility, 
then go right to cherishing pride. If God sets about 
answering our prayer, we set about defeating him. 
(1 John iii, 22.) 

X. We miss by not expecting to receive. When 
ye pray believe that ye receive the things ye ask, and 
ye shall have them. This is faith, faith matured — 
faith ripe for victory, in pardon and sanctification. 

XI. We miss the power of prayer {Holy Spirit), 
" which maketh intercession for us!' Rom. viii, 26 ; 
Micah iii, 8. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. O how good is God to make prayer at once the 
soul's delight, and the way to blessings ! A heaven 
to go to heaven in. 

2. How depraved are sinners who will not pray for 
heaven ! A child hates its father so much that he 
will not commune with him for the estate. Truly, a 
hell to go to hell in ! 

3. If such are some of the errors into which we 
fall, how fit that we should unite with the request of 



PERSONALITY AND WORK OF SA TAN. 49 



the disciples, " Lord teach us to pray !" " We know 
not what we should pray for, but the Spirit helpeth 
our infirmities." 

How solemn should we be as speaking to God! 
He only can correct our errors, and enable us to 
" offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him !" 



v. 

PERSONALITY AND WORK OF SATAN. 

" Be sober, be vigilant, becatise your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, 
walketh abotit, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter v, 8. 

The latter clause of this text is an incentive to ob- 
serve the admonition of the former. It is to place men 
upon their guard. "Your adversary walketh about 
seeking whom he may devour." Our subject is the 
Scriptural representation of Satan as a real being. 

Two centuries ago this doctrine began to be de- 
nied. Dr. Priestly, to sustain the doctrine of the 
materiality of the soul, denied that there were angels 
either good or evil. Our argument depends wholly 
upon Scripture. 

1. Existence of angels is presumptively more prob- 
able than that of men. A rational being would 
sooner have- anticipated that God would create an 
order like angels than a race like men, compounded 
of spirit and matter. Man is the greatest mystery 
among creatures, a compound of Godlike and earthy 
natures. Angels are like God, pure spirit. 

5 



50 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2, Evil angels are apostates from a holy and heav- 
enly state. 

This is directly proved from Scripture. " God 
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment." 2 Pet. ii, 4. No 
language could be more plain or literal. If this be 
not a description of literal transaction, then neither 
are the two following verses to be literally and histor- 
ically construed, where the apostle speaks, in the 
same strain of illustration, of the destruction of the 
"old world" by the flood, and of the "cities of Sodom 
and Gormorrah." All are cited by the apostle as 
actual instances of admitted historic credibility, illus- 
trative of God's vindictive justice. Mark the items in 
this statement : 

(1.) The angels sinned, and kept not their first estate. 

(2.) God cast them down to tartams {zaprapoc;), 
the word among the Greeks, in its substantive form, 
denoting that part of the invisible world where the 
souls of the wicked are punished. 

(3.) He hath "reserved them under chains of dark- 
ness to the judgment? They are held in custody, under 
arrest, to the final judgment day. But, for reasons 
not explained, they are permitted to go abroad for a 
time, and tempt men. This condition of arrest and 
custody, with some jail liberties, is alluded to, or im- 
plied, in Luke viii, 31, where the evil spirits "besought 
Christ that he would not command them to go out into 
the deep? that is, into the "bottomless pit? as the same 
word is rendered in the Book of Revelation. They 
dreaded their final sentence, "when the dragon, that 



PERSONALITY AND WORK OF SA TAN. 5 I 



old serpent, which is the devil and Satan," shall be 
bound and cast into the " bottomless pit? Rev. xx, 1-3. 
The same condition of these fallen spirits is implied 
in their earnest deprecation. (Matt, viii, 29, and 
Mark v, 7.) "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, 
thou Son of God ? Art thou come hither to torment 
us before the time?" Here again is discovered their 
dread of that final sentence, to which Peter says 
" they are reserved under chains of darkness." 

That many of the holy angels fell, involves no 
greater mystery than the fall of man. Here, then, we 
have evil spirits. 

3. If the Scriptures do not teach us that there are 
evil angels, they do not teach us that there are good 
angels. If the devil that tempted Christ is not a real 
being, the angel that strengthened him is not a real 
being ; and so in all cases. 

Again : If there are no angels, then, by the same 
rules of reasoning, and of Scripture interpretation, 
there is no God ; if no ministering spirits, then no 
Supreme Spirit. The Scriptures teach us the same 
things, by the same style of implication and assertion, 
in regard to evil angels, good angels, men, and God, 
and, so far as the Bible language is concerned, they 
are all to be understood as real beings, entities, or all 
mere principles. They are all abstracts, or all concretes. 
It is so, or the Bible has deceived us. 

Again : Consider that every-where in the Bible 
proper names, or the masculine pronoun, are applied 
to evil spirits, with all the attributes of intelligence 
and conscious personality. 

4. The text indicates that evil angels are endued 



52 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



with great power. "Your adversary walketh about 
as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 

Good angels are represented as "excelling in 
strength," (Ps. ciii, 20,) and as a "flame" of fire, (Ps. 
civ, 4.) The idea of the strength of the angels, as 
given in the revelation of John, excels all the concep- 
tions of the heathen of the power of their gods. The 
chief of the evil angels is represented as the "prince 
of the power of the air" (Eph. ii, 2), and "prince of 
this world" (John xiv, 30). Their apostasy totally cor- 
rupted their moral natures, but did not destroy their 
intelligence, or their constitutional faculties. But 
whatever may be their intelligence, or their physical 
power, they are restrained and limited in their exer- 
cise of it over men. They have power to tempt, not 
to destroy. 

The power of temptation lies in the corrupt appe- 
tites and propensities of our nature, and Satan and 
opportunity, suiting the temptation to circumstances, 
states of mind, and peculiar infirmities, give it great 
advantage. 

5. Evil angels are numerous, and organized into 
grades. 

"We wrestle against principalities, against powers 
(that is, delegated powers, inferior to principalities), 
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
spiritual wickedness {wicked spirits) in high places, 
(that is, heavenly places, as Eph. i, 3.) Eph. vi, 12. 

What a distribution of forces ! How should it ad- 
monish the Church ! 

6. They are active — " Your adversary walketh about" 
Satan represents himself as "going to and fro in the 



PERSONALITY AND WORK OF SA TAN 



53 



earth, and walking up and down in it." Job i, 7. 
The same in Matt, xii, 43, etc. 

It is the great activity of our enemies, combined 
with their malice and sagacity, that gave occasion to 
so frequent commands to " watch." 

7. They are intelligent. 

Their apostasy and malignity, as we have said, af- 
fect their moral nature chiefly. They are impure, and 
the personification of all moral corruption. But it 
does not appear that sin has blighted their intellect 
as it has their moral affections. They are still pow- 
erful to reason, perceive, remember, imagine. Among 
men we see the greatest intellects often connected 
with the vilest moral affections. Sin, in men and 
devils, does not blot out the intellect, but perverts it 
to base uses, and sharpens it for malicious and cruel 
purposes. 

The "wiles" and "devices" of Satan, and his cun- 
ning art, are made the theme of many an earnest 
caution to the unwary disciple. 

8. Evil angels are our adversaries. They hate all 
holiness, and are envious of all happiness, and are 
specially man's foe. 

Satan is terrific by reason of his conquests. Look 
at Paradise! See how he prevailed against Eve! 
Follow down the track of history, and behold what 
desolations he has caused in the earth ! This day he 
has nine-tenths of the world at his chariot-wheel. 
He reigns undisturbed over six hundred millions, and 
maintains a successful conflict in regions visited by 
the fullest blaze of the Gospel In this Christian 
city, where sixty ministers of the Gospel weekly strive 



54 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



to alarm the people, he has more than sixty, out of 
seventy thousand souls, openly avouching him as the 
captain of their perdition — probably, half of the re- 
mainder paying him a more secret homage. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. How justly are we admonished to be faithful and 
vigilant! We are watched by Satan and his hosts. 
We are surrounded by wicked men, who act as his 
retainers, and are the instruments of his treachery, 
deceit, and malice toward the servants of Christ. 
Thus beset on every hand, shall we not watch ? We 
are always traveling in the midst of an ambush. All 
things and places have a pressing danger attached 
to them. Satan and his legions are every-where. 
They throng the streets, the fields, the wilderness. 
The dwellings they possess, the kitchens, the cham- 
bers, the parlors, the schools, the sanctuaries, and 
even their altars. 

2. How striking the resemblance between wicked 
men and devils ! Apostle says to the sorcerer, " Then 
child of the devil!" Jesus says, "Ye are of your 
father, the devil." How little does the liar, the 
swearer, the Sabbath-breaker, the tempter and be- 
trayer of man consider his moral likeness to Satan ! 
To the Prince of Darkness he might well say, "Thy 
heart is as my heart," and confess a genial brother- 
hood. In them Satan has a double joy. He delights 
first in their ruin, to which they advance so boldly ; 
and, second, in the infection which speaks from them 
to others. 

3. How fitting will be the companionship of wicked 



PERSONALITY AND WORK OF SA TAN. 



55 



men and devils in perdition ! Their doom will be 
determined by the law of fitness. 

4. How blessed a state will heaven be to the right- 
eous,//^ from temptation ! The most holy are not 
so here. 

5. If we would reach that blessed world, let us put 
on the whole armor of God. Let us fly to Christ, 
who alone can conquer for us. 

How much need have we to be "sober and vigi- 
lant !" Shall we sleep in an enemy's country ? Study 
the designs of Satan. Read the Bible. Converse with 
experienced Christians. A Jew would have poisoned 
Luther. A friend sent Luther a picture of the Jew, 
warning him to beware of that man. We have a 
picture of the devil, and are warned to beware. 

Be sober — not drunken ! How would a drunken 
soldier fare in battle ? 

Riches may make us drunk. 

Honor may make us drunk. 

Pleasure may make us drunk. 

Be vigilant — awake, not asleep ! Your enemy never 
sleeps. 

Christ alone can defend us, and our only safety is 
in keeping near him. 



56 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



VI. 

ON BACKSLIDING. 

" / will heal their backslidings" Hosea xiv, 4. 

We propose to speak of the nature, symptoms, 
causes, misery, danger, and remedies of a backslidden 
state. 

I. The nature of backsliding. 

It is any declension from religion, either in knowl- 
edge, faith, love, practice, or profession. It is said to 
be a metaphor taken from the conduct of beasts which 
refuse the yoke, and often takes the sense of obsti- 
nate, refractory. At other times, it is a metaphor taken 
from a traveler who turns back from his journey, and 
hence relinquishes his enterprise. Then, it takes the 
sense of turning, returning. It differs from apostasy, 
for that is a total renunciation of, or turning the face 
from, the true faith, both in fact and profession, whereas 
a backslider 'is often a professor of the true religion, and 
may be an attendant upon its forms. Backsliding 
may be in part or total. Sometimes it is in heart 
only; sometimes in heart and life. Sometimes it is 
temporary — as in David, Peter — and sometimes eter- 
nal, as in Judas. It is commonly gradual ; often, by 
degrees, insensible. 

II. Symptoms. 

1. Want of contrition. 

2. Want of confidence in God, as to pardon. 

3. Want of affection to God. 

4. To his children. 



ON BACKSLIDING. 



57 



5. Indifference to the cause of Zion, and of souls. 

6. Want of humility- — of submission to afflictions, 
and of meekness under insults. 

7. A diminished abhorrence of sin, and a dimin- 
ished delight in holiness. 

8. A disposition to commute, or set off, our duties 
against neglects, good deeds against evil deeds. 

9. Inattention to the duties of religion, as watch- 
fulness, prayer, public worship, and ordinances. 

III. Causes. 

1. A careless wandering of the soul from her own 
habitation to commune with things without. The 
soul called out of itself, and influenced by things seen 
and temporal, more than by things unseen and eter- 
nal. Spiritualness turned to outwardness. 

2. A careless demeanor and conversation, in the 
absence of our religious comforts. 

Such seasons of deprivation we all experience. We 
do not know that it is necessary, only as the soul 
brings a gloomy night upon itself by voluntarily turn- 
ing away from the Sun of righteousness, or inviting 
sin or the world to eclipse his beams. 

Whatever may be the cause, we do experience, at 
times, this state ; and then it is that we are most 
severely tempted, and most imminently exposed. Sa- 
tan then comes — having carefully waited to find us in 
this unguarded state — and sets upon us most fiercely 
to destroy us. And, while the force of the tempta- 
tion is increased, the power of resistance is dimin- 
ished. In seasons of spiritual joy, when the heart is 
filled with divine love, it is easy to give the energies 
of the soul, all roused and sanctified by dominant 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



grace, to the labors of piety and godliness. In such 
a state, love shed abroad in the heart is a law whose 
dominion is grateful and sweet. 

But, in the loss of these heavenly frames — whether 
by the soul's defections or by the Divine economy 
we say not — we are too careless in deed, in word, 
in thought, and often grieve the Spirit till it depart 
from us. The mariner's course is sure, and his con- 
dition safe, when the breeze is gentle and abaft, and 
the sea is broad and unruffled and clear, and attracts 
him by its currents to the haven. There is little need 
to watch either helm or sail, when the elements are 
volunteers to navigate the craft. 

But woe to him who sleeps when nature warns, and 
winds and waves, and adverse currents, and narrow 
seas, and rocky beds combine their terrors to frighten 
and destroy. Specially so when, in addition to all, 
night sets in, and darkness envelops all. Christians 
are sometimes thus tried, as when Jesus sent away 
the disciples alone in the ship, and night came on, 
and "the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed 
with waves, for the wind was contrary." 

3. We backslide by not aiming at, and striving for, 
a greater growth in grace. We can not stand still 
in religion. The vegetable that does not flourish 
must wither, droop, and die. The child that does not 
increase in stature, we presume to be sickly, and 
tending to the grave. 

4. By yielding to temptation. It is not the want of 
grace that causes us to yield to temptation, but the 
want of decision. Our will is not active and resolute. 
If we stood firm, and looked to God, he would help 



ON BACKSLIDING. 



59 



us with increased power of grace. We are responsi- 
ble in the matter. We are tempted to be ashamed 
of the cross, and we avoid it, and practically deny 
Christ. We are tempted with the fear of man, and 
we yield, and shrink from duty. We fear to lose our 
good name, or to be accounted a fool, for Christ's sake, 
and we compromise with conscience. We dread the 
scorn and frown of men, and we adopt a worldly pru- 
dence. We see other professors living quite at ease, 
with few spiritual cares and duties, and we copy them 
rather than Christ. 
IV. Misery. 

The misery of the backslider is to be seen, in part, 
by a careful examination of the state of his mind and 
of his moral history. It must be considered that, in 
his religious course, he has acquired a relish for spir- 
itual pleasures, and, of course, has conceived a disgust 
at the world. 

Religion has, by its chastening and purifying influ- 
ences, so modified his taste, and so entertained and 
delighted it by its sacred and heavenly scenes, that 
even when that taste is vitiated, and those delights 
are abandoned, the remembrance of superior bliss, 
and of the loss of it, renders him uneasy and wretched. 
His state is singular and affecting. It is not like one 
who retains an appetite for food, but famishes for the 
want of it. Nor is it the condition of one who has 
food without' appetite. But it is a case in which both 
food and appetite are gone, leaving the wretch to re- 
member how he once had both the capacity and the 
objects of fruition, but has suffered his enemy to dis- 
possess him of both the one and the other. We ac- 



6o 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



knowledge that he acquires once more a relish for the 
world ; but he can not act with the freedom of ordinary 
worldlings in his efforts to gratify it. The conscious- 
ness that his relish for the world has been acquired 
by vitiating the noble affections of the Christian state, 
and is gratified by an apertion from Christian privi- 
leges, and comforts, and hopes, and brilliant prospects, 
is a cause of disquiet, and often an element of inde- 
scribable agony to his heart. 

Other men are repelled in their pursuits of pleasure 
by the power of a conscience whose reproofs are 
sharpened by no recollection of violated vows and 
broken covenants, of the voluntary and desperate 
abandonment of a repentance already past, a faith 
already wrought, a love already ardent, a Savior already 
possessed, and a God already enthroned within, to 
adorn with the beauty of his light, to gladden with 
the comforts of his presence, and to save, by the 
mighty working of his power, from everlasting death. 

But this isthe unenviable lot, the consummate mis- 
ery of the backslider from God. 

V. Danger. This is twofold, personal and relative. 

I. Personal. 

(i.) Danger that you will never be restored, and 
thus suffer a fatal loss. "When, the righteous turn- 
eth away from his righteousness, and committeth in- 
iquity, and doeth according to all the abominations 
that the wicked man doeth, shall he live ? All his 
righteousness that he hath done shall not be men- 
tioned : in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and 
in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." 
Ezek. xviii, 24, and xxxiii, 12, 13. To-day, indeed, 



ON BACKSLIDING, 



6l 



you may return — Jesus calls you. The Father calls 
you. " Return unto me, and I will return unto you, 
saith the Lord." Promises invite you. " If any man 
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ, the righteous ;" " I will heal their backslidings." 
The example of other returning backsliders is in your 
favor. The parable of the prodigal son is in your 
favor. But your danger lies in the increased hard- 
ness of your heart "by the deceitfulness of sin," and 
by the abuse of higher grace and privilege. You are 
hardening your heart, and treasuring up wrath, and 
filling up your account faster than common sinners. 
God may soon say of you, "He is joined to his idols, 
let him alone ;" "It is impossible to renew him again 
unto repentance." He now says, "Remember, there- 
fore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do 
the first works ; or else I will come unto thee quickly, 
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, ex- 
cept thou repent." Rev. ii, 5. 

(2.) Danger that, if you are ever restored, you will 
suffer a great and permanent loss of happiness and 
glory. Peter recovered his apostleship, his first love, 
and his crown. He fled back to Christ suddenly, 
with bitter tears. But how long hast thou, O back- 
slider, persisted in thy backslidings ? 

(3.) Danger of increased misery if finally lost. 
Christ threatens the Pharisees (Matt, xxiii, 14), and the 
unfaithful cities (Matt, xi, 23, 24), with aggravated 
punishment. 

But, in addition to the personal danger of backslid- 
ing, there is, 2. Relative danger. 

(1.) Danger to the faithful followers of Christ. 



62 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Your example is disheartening to them, and adds to 
the scandal of the cross for wlpich they suffer. 

(2.) To other backsliders. You help to keep them 
in their evil ways. 

(3.) To impenitent sinners. You are a stumbling- 
block in their way. " Thou hast departed out of the 
way, and hast caused others to stumble at the law." 
Mai. ii, 8. 

VI. Remedies. 

1. In God only. " O Israel, thou hast destroyed 
thyself; but in me is thy help." Hosea xiii, 9. 

2. In him it is certain. "I will heal their back- 
slidings." 

3. God is anxious to receive — he entreats. (Jer. iii, 
14.) He gives up with infinite reluctance and regret. 
(Hos. iii, 8.) He will receive even now, after long back- 
sliding. (Mai. iii, 7; Heb. iv, 7.) But he can receive 
you only in the mode prescribed by his wisdom. You 
must, like the prodigal, return to your father. (Hosea 
xiv, 1, 2.) Say to your fellow-backslider, "Come, and 
let us return unto the Lord ; for he hath torn, and he 
will heal us ; he hath smitten, and he will bind us 
up." Hos. vi, 1. And say unto God, "Behold we 
come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God." 
Jer. iii, 22. 



CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE. 



63 



VII. 

CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE. 

" If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous.' 1 '' 1 John ii, I. 

I. The sinner has joined issue with God. 

1. Indictment. Rebellion, robbery. 

2. Sinner has joined issue. 

Issues are of two kinds — issues of law, and issues 
of fact. The point between the sinner and God em- 
braces both. 

II. God has appointed a day for the trial of this 
issue. 

" Because he hath appointed a day in which he wiL 
judge the world in righteousness." 

III. The sinner needs an advocate. 

1. His cause is a bad one. Heinous crimes are 
charged against him. Aggravated by circumstances 
against the Father. Testimony is abundant. No want 
of witnesses. 

2. Himself is ignorant. Plea is wrong. In law and 
in fact he has no ground of defense. 

3. Unacceptable in his person. 

4. A Judge who can not be deceived nor bribed. 

IV. An advocate is offered the sinner. 

" Righteous " — *' Jesus " — " Christ" — sweet names ! 
All significant ! 

1. He will not undertake what he can not perform, 
for he is wise and good. 



6 4 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2. Nor what he can not equitably perform. He is 
"righteous" not only personally, but officially, whose 
work is to honor God and secure righteousness. He 
is a " declaration of God's righteousness in the remis- 
sion of sins that are past," and he shows how " God 
may be just, and the justification of him that believ- 
eth in Jesus." Rom. iii, 25, 26. As Mediator, he saves 
the sinner and vindicates the law, and maintains the 
righteousness of the throne. In him, " Mercy and 
truth are met together, righteousness and peace have 
kissed each other." He so pardons and sanctifies 
the believing sinners that he makes them " the right- 
eousness of God in him." " He is made to us wis- 
dom and righteousness." 

But he is not only "the righteous," but "Jesus" 
Savior. His name denotes his successful advocacy. 
Also, " Christ" — anointed to this office, and, therefore, 
acceptable to God. He is the only one anointed to 
this office — the only one who can be heard as the 
Advocate for sinners in the supreme court of the 
universe. In earthly courts we may lose one advo- 
cate, and find another equally talented. Not so here. 

The mercy of this Advocate is unfathomable. He 
makes the sinner's cause his own. He binds himself 
to his client for life or death. 

3. Conditions. 

(1.) We must accept the ground of his advocacy — 
his own meritorious satisfaction for sin. 

(2.) We must accept the nature of his plea. He 
takes no issue with divine justice as to the legal as- 
pects of the sinner's cause. He takes no issue with 
divine veracity as to the facts of the sinner's offenses. 



CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE. 



6 S 



He concedes the whole truth and equity of the indict- 
ment, and the entire fact and turpitude of the sin- 
ner's crimes, and rests his plea for the discharge of 
the prisoner, first, on the ground of satisfaction, of- 
fered and accepted in behalf of law ; and, secondly, 
in view of the humble repentance and submission of 
the offender. If we engage Christ as an " advocate 
with the Father," it must be on these conditions. 
We must put our cause wholly in his hands, follow his 
counsels, accept his offers. 

Our cause is indefensible in law ; it is hopeful only 
through grace. Pardon, not vindication, is our only 
hope. For this we must join our prayers with Christ's 
advocacy — our penitence with his merits — our faith 
with his power. If we go to the judgment without 
securing his advocacy, we perish ; for " how should 
man be just with God ? If he will contend with him, 
he can not answer him one of a thousand." Job ix, 
2, 3. The text does not say, "If any man have not 
sinned, is innocent, we have an advocate;" but "if 
any man have sinned" — if the fact be admitted, and 
there is no ground of issue either in law or in fact, still, 
though thus standing exposed to wrath without defense 
or mitigation of the crime, "we have an Advocate." 
Brethren, bless God for such an Advocate. When 
you carried your wounded consciences and bleeding 
hearts to him, what did he accomplish ? He forestalled 
the judgment, obtained the pardon, and wrote it on 
your hearts. He pleads for us now. Not his lips 
merely, but his blood pleads. He lifts up wounded 
hands to plead for us. Sinner, believe and be par- 
doned ! Saint, believe and be sanctified ! 

6 



66 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



VIII. 

THE PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 

EXPOSITORY DISCOURSE ON THE NINETY-FIRST PSALM. 

This Psalm has, by some, been ascribed to Moses, 
but the more general opinion is that David was its 
author. It is in the form of dialogue. If David 
were its author, we may suppose that there were three 
persons discoursing together, one of them divine. 
From the first to the fourteenth verse, David and 
Solomon may be considered the parties ; while God 
himself, having " hearkened and heard," suddenly ad- 
dressed both, in the words from the fourteenth verse 
to the close of the Psalm. According to this plan, 
the dialogue opens with the following words, addressed 
by David to his son : 

Verse i. " He that dwelleth in the secret place of 
the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the 
Almighty." 

He that dwelleth in the secret place — that is, the 
believer, who fears God and works righteousness. 

The imagery seems to be borrowed from the ancient 
style of building, or of constructing tents, in which 
the master of the house had his own secluded rooms, 
into which none but favorites were admitted. " The 
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." The 
secret of God's love can not be explained but by the 
soul's experience of it in the pardon of sin. Thus 
the " love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the 



PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 



6 7 



Holy Ghost." But, by the " secret place," the Psalm- 
ist may allude to the holy of holies, the private apart- 
ment and dwelling-place of Jehovah, into which none 
might enter but the high-priest alone, and he but 
once yearly. But we may come boldly unto the 
throne of grace, into the " holy of holies," not sel- 
dom, or year by year, but may dwell there, and go no 
no more out forever. 

" Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty? 
This may refer to the wings of the cherubim over- 
shadowing the mercy-seat, as a token of that notice 
and protection which God will extend to them who 
approach these symbolic scenes, and dwell in the 
secret place. 

Verse 2. " I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge 
and my fortress : my God ; in him will I trust." 

This commences Solomon's response to the pater- 
nal admonition contained in verse 1. Solomon, at 
that period, was humble and devout, and might have 
been expected to give such an answer to the kind 
admonitions of a pious father. As though he had 
answered, " I believe as thou sayest, that to dwell in 
the secret place of the Most High will secure to me 
his sheltering care and protection, and I am resolved 
there to dwell. 'I will say of the Lord, He is my 
refuge and my fortress.'" These words, refuge and 
fortress, are familiar to the readers of the Bible. 
There were two sorts of these defenses, namely, nat- 
ural and artificial. The former were among the cliffs 
and caves, and bold precipitous banks of mountainous 
regions, sometimes nearly inaccessible, and wholly so 
when occupied and defended by a few persons only. 



68 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Juclea afforded many such " strongholds." They are 
frequently spoken of in the Scripture history of those 
wars which were carried on between David and his 
enemies. Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, was a noted 
one. The artificial fortresses were walled towns and 
strong towers, constructed for municipal and border 
protection. These defenses Solomon repudiates as 
sources of confidence. His true safety was not in 
them. In the spirit of true faith, he turns his hopes 
from these "vain things for safety," and exclaims, "I 
will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress : 
my God ; in him will I trust." 

Verse 3. In this verse David resumes the conver- 
sation. As if he were exceedingly gratified at the 
pious resolution expressed by Solomon, he breaks out 
in strains of pious confidence, to recite to his son the 
favors and blessings which will flow to him on the 
fulfillment of his resolutions. " Surely he shall deliver 
thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the 
noisome pestilence." This promise may be consid- 
ered as a pledge of blessings to the body, and to the 
soul. It is a promise of life to each. The snares of 
his enemies, whether for the life of his body or the 
life of his soul, shall be laid in vain, for God will 
deliver him. It is also a favor from Providence. 
Whatever destructive agents God may commission 
to desolate and destroy, he shall so control those 
ministers of his vengeance that Solomon shall be 
secure. By the snare of the fowler we are to un- 
derstand the machinations of ambitious, hostile 
princes, of heartless politicians, and the devices of evil 
spirits. By the "noisome pestilence" is meant the 



PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 



6 9 



afflictions sent upon the world by God's providence. 
So broad is the Christian's charter of privilege ! 

Verse 4. " He shall cover thee with his feathers, 
and under his wing shalt thou trust ; his truth shall 
be thy shield and thy buckler." 

" He shall cover tliee with his feathers." The figure 
indicates not merely the utmost care of Providence, 
but more particularly the extreme tenderness and 
solicitude which prompt that care. The preceding 
verse sets forth the beneficent providence, but this, the 
sympathetic love of the Godhead. The Savior's pa- 
thetic lament over Jerusalem will assist the reader to 
understand, in its full force, this interesting language: 
" O, Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! thou that killest the 
prophets," etc., " how often would I have gathered 
thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chick- 
ens under her wings !" 

"His truth shall be thy shield and thy buckler? 
Here we have an assurance of the efficiency of God's 
providence, as we just now had of its solicitude, or 
tenderness. The hen affords uncertain protection to 
her brood, for her wing is feeble ; but the Christian's 
trust is not only in the charity of God's infinite be- 
nevolence, but also in the efficacy of his eternal truth 
and omnipotence. God's guardianship is watchful, 
like the affection of the bird for its young — it is for- 
midable, like the warrior invincible in arms. 

Verse 5. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror 
by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day." 

Fear is one of the most distressing states which the 
mind can assume. No matter whether there be 
cause for fear or not, when the passion seizes us, we 



70 SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



can suffer no greater agony. But they who trust in 
God shall be saved from fear and its " torment." 

"Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night" — 
that is, the dread of secret foes, of tempests, etc., 
which may come upon us in our defenseless mo- 
ments — "nor for the arrow that flieth by day." The 
unseen messengers of wrath, which, like the swift 
arrow in the hour of battle, we can not of ourselves 
discern nor avoid, shall not injure thee ; nor shalt thou 
fear them, because thou shalt feel that God is thy 
shield. 

Verse 6. " Nor for the pestilence that walketh in 
darkness." Such a pestilence prevailed against the 
Assyrian hosts, as they reposed under the walls of 
the devoted city, waiting to destroy it. Such was the 
scourge in the midst of us five or six years since, 
when the hands of so many hung clown, and fear filled 
the hearts of the strongest. Even then there were 
instances in which the joy of God's people was full. 
Some, under the influence of this strong trust in God, 
never felt one anxious emotion. They were not afraid 
of the pestilence which walked in darkness. 

Verse 7. "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and 
ten thousand at thy right hand ; but it shall not come 
nigh thee." 

However desolating the scourge, though it were to 
sweep away nations — though its victims were thou- 
sands and tens of thousands, falling around thee — yet 
thou shalt be secure. Not only shalt thou be saved 
from death, but thou shalt be kept, amidst such appall- 
ing dangers, from the very fearoi death. The sprink- 
ling of that blood, which speaketh better things than 



PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 



7 l 



the blood which saved the first-born of Israel, shall 
be a token to the angel of death, and stay his hand. 

Verse 8. " Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold 
and see the reward of the wicked." 

As Israel beheld Pharaoh and his hosts discom- 
fited, and overwhelmed in the waters of the sea, so 
shall the good man behold, but shall not share, the 
wrath of God against the wicked. 

Verse 9. "Because thou hast made the Lord, which 
is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation." 

Here other figures are introduced, and David, in a 
very proper manner, invokes his own experience in 
confirmation of his doctrine concerning providence. 
"The Lord, which is my refuge" I trusted in God, 
and was not confounded. He helped me in six 
troubles, and, in my seventh — in my great and sore 
trouble — he has not forsaken me. 

" Even the Most High thy habitation." God, infi- 
nite in wisdom, and mighty to deliver, is the dwelling- 
place of the righteous. How amiable is this parental 
example which David urges on the attention of Solo- 
mon, and by which he confirms the faith of the young 
saint, and encourages his trust in God ! Happy father 
who can say to his child, "Follow me as I follow 
Christ." 

Verse 10. "There shall be no evil befall thee, 
neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling." 

"No evil"— that is, evil to the ungodly, may be a 
great blessing to the godly ; and, if any of the plagues 
which come upon the world should light on the head 
of the Christian, they shall be no curse to him. 
Death may be an officer of justice, or an angel of 



72 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



peace. It may come to deliver the soul over to tor- 
mentors, as with Dives ; or it may convey it to Abra- 
ham's bosom. Even the dwelling of the righteous 
(God is his habitation) shall be secure forever. The 
allusion seems to be to the difference made between 
the dwellings of the Egyptians and those of the Isra- 
elites, mentioned in Exodus xii, 23, "For the Lord 
will pass through to smite the Egyptians ; and when 
he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two 
side-posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will 
not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to 
smite y 07i." 

Verse ii. "For he shall give his angels charge 
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." 

Here the method of the saint's security is set forth 
in the clearest terms. "He shall give his angels 
charge concerning thee." This is an " exceeding great 
and precious promise." It is intended to banish fear 
from the hearts of God's people. Their faith should 
always see around them these powerful agents of 
God's will, placed in commission over them, and 
"charged" — like the nurse by a tender parent — to be 
most vigilant and active in their office and work. 
"/;/ all thy ways." Wherever the ways of righteous- 
ness conduct the good man, if it be to prison or to 
the cross, angels will "keep" them there. They will 
wait on the body while the soul inhabits it ; and when 
the spirit "bursts the bonds," those "ministers to the 
heirs of salvation" will triumphantly bear the new- 
born saint to heaven. 

Verse 12. "They shall bear thee up in their hands, 
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." 



PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 



73 



Helpless saints find help in God. His ministers 
are very considerate, and, watching for the failures of 
their charge, they help the infirmities of the weak. 
As the nurse bears the child in her arms, so the an- 
gels of God entreat the heirs of salvation. God has 
''charged" them to do so, and they love to do his 
commandments. 

Verse 13. '' Thou shalt tread upon the lion and 
adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou 
trample under feet." 

Through Christ, they shall tread the wicked under 
their feet; the example and influence of sinners 
shall be despised, and shall have no power to injure 
them. Satan, too, and all the powers of darkness, 
shall be resisted and overcome. So was it with 
Christ in the day of his temptation ; and thus shall 
it be with his followers. 

Verse 14. Here we suggested that God himself 
takes up the discourse. It is true, indeed, that it is 
still the language of David ; but, if so, that he speaks 
for God is evident. 

" Because he hath set his love upon me." Here is 
a description of character. It was faith before, but 
now it is love. He must love much who trusts much. 
He who trusts in God as his refuge, is such a one 
as "dwelleth in love, and so dwelleth in God." 

" Therefore will I deliver him." Wherefore will he 
deliver? Because, says the Universalis!, God loves 
him; but here it is because he loves God. "I will 
set him on high (above the reach of evil), because he 
hath known my name" (my new best name of love.) 

Verse 15. "He shall call upon me, and I will 
7 



74 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



answer him." Some say, "What profit is there in 
prayer ?" Ask God. He says, " I will answer him." 
Did not David pray? Did not Solomon pray? Did 
not the apostles and first disciples pray ? What a 
religion that must be, which claims the Bible for its 
text-book, and yet ridicules prayer ! Thus does athe- 
ism traduce the Divinity. 

" I will be with him (the praying man) in trouble ; 
I will deliver him and honor him." This promise is 
beautifully illustrated in the case of Daniel. He be- 
lieved in prayer. He would pray if it broke the 
king's decree; he would pray if it cost him his life; 
he would kneel three times a day and pray ; yea, he 
would pray if it were in the lion's mouth. In the 
eye of prayerless Christians (/) what a fool was this 
same Daniel ! Why did he not think to ask himself, 
" Does not God know my wants ? Why, then, should 
I tell him ? Is he not merciful and able to bless me ? 
Why, then, should I urge him?" Daniel had not 
learned in such a school. He hies him to his cham- 
ber, "and prays, and gives thanks to God, as he 
had done aforetime." What follows ? " My God hath 
sent his angel, and shut the lions' mouths that they 
could not hurt me." "God delivered him and hon- 
ored him." 

Verse 16. "With long life will I satisfy him." 
Daniel's life was preserved by miracle. Every good 
man will find his life long enough, when it answers 
the great end of probation — it enables him to prepare 
for heaven. 

"And show him my salvation." This is the last 
and greatest promise — the sun in this bright firma- 



PORTION OF THE SAINTS. 



ment of promises. " Skozv him" — what he can not 
now conceive. Though he dwells in God, and angels 
are his guard, yet all his present experience affords 
no idea of that salvation, which (in due time) "I will 
show him." 

No reflections can add to the luster of this beauti- 
ful Psalm. No language, no criticism, can add to its 
force or sweetness. It is enough if we have called at- 
tention to its varied thoughts, and awakened medita- 
tion. It is a psalm for all. Whether one be young 
or old, in sorrow or in a career of high prosperity, it 
affords instruction of the richest sort, in a form almost 
inimitably attractive. Its allusions to the scenery of 
the tabernacle, or temple, and their forms of worship, 
are very impressive. It places Solomon before the 
youthful reader as a striking example of royal juve- 
nile piety — of true wisdom — of a spirit then aspiring 
to higher glory than the world could promise — even 
to the honor which comes from God. David, acting 
the part of an exemplary parent, leading his son to 
the altar of God, and confirming his faith to the ut- 
most, is an example to the old. This Psalm is, indeed, 
a "charter of privilege" to the Christian. It aims to 
annihilate tormenting fear, and fill him with all the 
comfort of hope. I will do thus — and thus — and 
thus, for him, and " show him my salvation." O blessed 
words! "exceeding great and precious promise!" 
Take it, Christian, whoever thou art; let it be thy 
strength in temptation, thy comfort in distress, thy 
balm in sickness, and thy music in death. Take it for 
light to guide thee here ; and when the shadows of 
death thicken on thy path, turn thine eye from the 



7 6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



gloom — glance at this constellation of promises, and 
then fix thy gaze on this bright sun — 11 show him my sal- 
vation." Yes, thou child of sorrow, when the end ap- 
proaches — when all "his waves and billows go over 
thee," listen to this voice— this music — these swelling 
notes of David's harp — and as thy soul spreads its 
pinions for an upward flight, the ear that listens shall 
catch thy last soft whisper, echoing back, "Salva- 
tion !" 



IX. 

THE SON OF MAN LIFTED UP. 

11 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should ?iot 
perish, but have eternal life" John iii, 14. 

A comparison is here instituted between the brazen 
serpent in the wilderness, mentioned in the twenty- 
first chapter of Numbers, and Christ. In presenting 
Christ to you, we shall, at present, follow the sugges- 
tions of this resemblance. 

i. a resemblance between the disease of the 
Israelites and that of the sinner. 

I . Origin. 

They were bitten by fiery serpents. The wilderness 
all through was infested with them, but, till then, they 
were preserved. Fiery, from their color, rage, or the 
inflamed wounds they inflicted. 

Satan, that old serpent called the devil, has wounded 



THE SON OF MAN LIFTED UP. 



77 



us all. These wounds are in the soul. Wounds are 
severe and dreadful according to the delicacy and 
vitality of the part wounded. A wound on the flesh 
can be easily borne ; but, if it be the eye, an artery, 
or the heart, who can bear it? But the wounds in- 
flicted by Satan are of the soul, more delicate than 
the eye. They are inflicted on the will. A poison 
of Satan's works there. Eve put forth her hand. 
Will is no longer like the golden bridle of Minerva. 

The Affections — Desire is poisoned. As a sick 
man calls for wine in a fever, so you call for any thing 
but Gospel cures. You do not hunger and thirst after 
righteousness. 

Affection of Grief- — You grieve for the want of riches 
but not for want of Christ ; for a cancer in the body, 
but not for a cancer in the heart. 

Affection of jfoy — You rejoice in a wedge of gold, 
or the cure of bodily pain, but not in an opportunity 
to secure an estate in heaven, or the healing of your 
sick and dying souls. 

Conscience is Sick. — Your conscience is defiled, 
like Paul's. " I verily thought with myself I must 
do many things contrary to Jesus." It is an ignis 
fatuus leading astray. 

Dumb conscience will no more warn. 
Dead conscience, having lost its sensibility, like a sen- 
sualist who no longer reckons himself a transgressor. 

2. But sin not only wounds, but poisons. The ser- 
pent's bite poisons. The poison of sin has spread 
over your whole soul. Wounds may be cured, but 
not poison. Wounds are local, poison universal. In- 
sert one drop into any part of the system, and it 



78 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



spreads every-where. It is the corruption of the 
blood, not merely of the bone or the flesh. The bite 
of the serpent may be on your hand, but it immedi- 
ately affects the whole body. The poison flies to the 
head, the heart, the lungs, and deranges every organ 
of the body. Sin may have stung you only in a local 
part of the soul at first, but it instantly reaches to 
every part — the will, the affections, all. This poison 
has made your soul weak, inflamed passion, despoiled 
beauty, and turned the soul's bloom into the paleness 
of death. Once its beauty was like sparkling gold, 
but the gold has become dim. 

The soul which had an orient brightness, whose 
polishing was like sapphire, whose understanding was 
full of knowledge, whose affections were seraphic, 
this soul is now dying of poison. 

Poison destroys the appetite, the comfort, and ushers 
in death. 

The sinner is like Cleopatra. The asp is brought 
in a basket of flowers and fruit, but its bite is no less 
deadly. He applies the serpent, and dies amid the 
empty compliments and pageantry of fashion. 

O, what symptoms are developed under the power 
of this poison ! Our parents broke the box of God's 
covenant, and what swarms of vile distempers came 
forth ! 

Pride, the tyranny of the soul — lust, its fever — 
error, its gangrene — unbelief, its plague — hypocrisy, 
its scurvy. 

Hardness of heart, the stone — anger, the frenzy — 
malice, the asthma — covetousness, the palsy — sloth, 
the jaundice — apostasy, the epilepsy of the soul. 



THE SON OF MAN LIFTED UP. 



79 



Poison of soul is the worst poison — most difficult 
to detect, most painful to endure — most reluctant to 
be cured, and most sure to prove fatal. 

Body may be sick, and conscience quiet. Not so 
the soul. The body may be sick, yet God loves us ; 
but not so the soul. Shall we not fear these soul 
wounds? Shall we suffer the serpent, Satan, to hide 
in our chambers, and circle our beds, and invade our 
retirement, and never resist him ? Shall we apply 
no remedy ? The children of Israel cried, and God 
heard ; Moses prayed, and God answered. Have we 
here no Moses to pray ? Is there no help for these 
dying millions ? 

II. Resemblance of remedies. 

1. That which cured was in the likeness of that 
which wounded. Christ was made "in the likeness 
of sinful flesh." 

2. Serpent was "lifted up" — so Christ. The ob- 
ject of this was to exhibit to the eye. The serpent 
must be seen in order to the cure. So Christ must 
be exhibited to the eye of the understanding, and of 
faith. Though born in obscurity, he became the most 
renowned of men. Though meek and lowly, he is 
held forth to the view of the world. Moses lifted up 
the serpent on a pole, and exhibited Christ in the 
sacrifices of the law. Christ is more perfectly lifted 
up to view by his miracles, his life, his death — above 
all, by his death on the cross. It was the lifting up 
by the cross that he speaks of. Christ is to be set 
before the minds of men, and the eye of the world, 
by the cross. Christians, ministers, should lift up the 
Son of Man by their holy lives, their consistent pro- 



8o 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



fessions, their preaching; but always as the crucified 
One. This is the ensign for the people. In vain do 
we hold him before the eye of a dying world, if the 
cross be kept out of sight. 

III. Application of Remedies. 

Whosoever looks at serpent- — whosoever believeth 
on Jesus. The Hebrews looked by sense, the sinner 
by faith. 

1. Each must be convicted of wounds. This is 
generally by feeling the pain, remorse. When con- 
victed, do n't look at the wound, but at the brazen 
serpent, Christ. 

2. Some try other remedies — morality. Some say, 
No matter about looking, we shall be healed anyhow. 
But see the dying all around, like the camp of Israel — 
some, so wounded as to be helpless, carried by friends. 
Fancy them wasting in their tents ; little children 
dying, and parents running with them. So do you. 
Take care of your wounded children, friends and 
neighbors. 

Would you be perfectly healed, keep looking. It 
is your only hope. The body will lose its disorders 
in the grave — not so the soul. Its diseases, unless 
cured by looking to Christ, are eternal. Christ is not 
lifted up in hell. 

An ancient painter said he painted for eternity. 
So do you, sinner. Your heart is the canvas, 
thought and purpose the pencil ; heaven and hell 
supply the colors, tinging it for eternity. Every hour 
you lay on some shade. I knew a man poisoned ten 
years ago. He lingered five years and died. He 
never expected to recover. Hour after hour the fatal 



GRA TITUDE. 



81 



death-march slowly and surely moved toward the cit- 
adel of life. But O what is that to eternal poison ! 

Sinner, Christ is now lifted up for your healing. 
Earth is the scene of the evil ; so, also, of the rem- 
edy. No time to lose. Poison works death surely 
and rapidly. Lift up thine eyes even now to the 
cross. " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
the sins of the world." 



x, 

GRATITUDE. 

A THANKSGIVING DISCOURSE. 
" Offer unto God thanksgiving" Ps. 1, 14. 

Gratitude is commended by the serious of all ages, 
and of every sect in philosophy or religion. We must 
presume, therefore, that it is a virtue, and that its 
tendency is generous upon man, both in his individual 
and social state. But it is desirable to perceive the 
propriety and utility of virtue, and not rest in mere 
presumption. It is as much as man will do to sur- 
render up his views under the persuasion of sure and 
great advantage ; and more than he will do, to sur- 
render them Avith an uncertain hope of gain by the 
act. Man has, by nature, such a relish for corrupt 
and sinful pleasures, and such an aversion to the du- 
ties of religion, that neither can be conquered until 
he comes to the full and firm persuasion that religion 



82 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



is a blessing, and the want of it a curse. To produce 
this firm conviction on the subject now before us, we 
will inquire into, 

I. The obligation, 
II. The occasion, 

III. The expression, and 

IV. The utility of gratitude. 

I. First, then, let us consider the obligation of 
gratitude. This arises from the nature of equity. 
Equity defines the absolute, or abstract principle of 
justice. It is essential to equity that an equivalent 
be rendered according to quality or value, and it re- 
spects moral principles, and the claims of moral affec- 
tions and sentiments, no less than legal forms and 
commercial interests. None doubts whether equity 
tends to secure and advance the happiness of man, or 
that it is fundamental to virtue. But let us illustrate 
this point. 

A furnishes B a year's provisions for his table. It 
is equity in B to return to A something of equal 
value, or something which it shall be agreed between 
them is equally calcinated to administer to the com- 
fort and well-being of A. But suppose the donee, 
B, has nothing to return of equal, or of any, value, 
and A consents to furnish him a year's provisions 
without any recompense. In this case, a spirit of 
equity has no means of expression, and, indeed, 
would not be a just response to that temper in A, 
which prompted him to make so generous an offer- 
ing. Had A furnished the provisions in barter, or in 
sale, equity would have been the spirit of the action. 
And, had B repaid him the full value, equity would 



GRA TITUDE. 



83 



have responded both in sentiment and deed. In this 
case justice would have ruled the parties throughout. 
Justice would have moved A in furnishing the food, 
and justice would have been B's suitable response. 

But, set aside the quid pro quo; let A become a 
donor without any expectation of receiving as much 
again, and B the donee, without any power, or hope, 
of restoring the value of the gift, and then the spirit 
of mere equity on B's part is unsuitable, for two 
reasons : 

1. It can not be expressed. 

2. It does not assort with the temper of A, and 
form a suitable response to that temper. 

It can not be expressed. The only mode of ex- 
pression is repayment ; and this is beyond B's power. 
The temper of A was benevolent, not that of simple 
justice; gracious, not that of simple equit)\ The re- 
sponse, therefore, from B must be gratitude, not 
equity. Equity is a return for justice, but nothing- 
except gratitude, the gift of the heart in warm, and 
pure, and generous affection, is a suitable return for 
the sympathies of benevolence. 

It would seem, then, that gratitude is that temper 
of the heart which forms the only suitable response 
to benevolence ; and that it arises from the reception 
of good at the hand of another, which we are not ex- 
pected to repay. Whenever we are the subjects of 
another's benevolence, we are to repay our benefactor 
in the offerings of gratitude. Equity excludes the 
idea of gratitude, and benevolence excludes the idea 
of equity. The obligation of gratitude is as plain, 
and as distinct, as the obligations of justice, or of any 



8 4 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



moral virtue. And this is the reason that all man- 
kind, in every age and condition of the world, have 
agreed upon the propriety and the excellence of this 
virtue. God himself has so constructed the moral 
affections of our being, that gratitude becomes the 
natural and appropriate return for benevolent acts 
and sympathies, to the exclusion of all other modes 
of requital, more absolutely than gold is made the 
legal tender in payment of equitable claims. 

II. The occasions of gratitude. 

These are found principally in the providence of 
God. All good comes from God, and now, on the 
ground of equity or justice, all as the fruit of pure 
benevolence. We can restore nothing for the least 
of his gifts. We are too poor to remunerate him for 
the air which we consume in one respiring act. The 
occasions of gratitude, then, toward God are as frequent 
as his gifts, and as pressing as their immeasurable 
worth can render them. Let us turn now, and mark 
the history of his providence toward us as a nation, 
as families, as individuals, and especially as Christians. 
We can speak only in general terms. 

As a nation he has granted us peace, not war; 
health, not the pestilence ; the preservation of the 
Constitution, religious freedom, benevolent societies 
and institutions ; a pervading moral and religious sen- 
timent ; a diffused system of popular education; a 
high standard of art, civilization, and public enterprise. 

The history of the Revolution is like a miracle of 
deliverance. Consider the English power; our weak- 
ness ; and our scattered population, gathered from all 
the nations. 



GRATITUDE. 



8 S 



Consider the history of Providence to you as fami- 
lies. Many of you have not been broken in your 
family circles ; others have seen their friends die in 
triumph. 

Consider God's providence to you as individuals. 
Life, health, reputation, property preserved ; goods 
accumulated; influence extended. 

As Christians, religion is foremost of all blessings. 
Consider the abundant grace of the Gospel in con- 
version, sanctification, comfort and aid in trouble, wis- 
dom and counsel in action, and the hopes of a future 
life, all calling for stronger faith on our part, and 
more ardent zeal and love. If any are backslidden, 
yet they are in mercy spared to repent. These are 
great mercies. 

III. The expression of our gratitude. 

Formal expressions of gratitude have obtained 
among men, and constitute no inconsiderable portion 
of the civilities of polished life. They have obtained 
in all, or nearly all, religions — all, at least, which rec- 
ognize the existence of God, and his providence over 
his creatures. The Jew had his thank-offerings, as 
well as sin and peace-offerings. And the Christian is 
blessed with eucharists, both common and sacramental, 
which it behooves him to celebrate with clean hands 
and pure heart. 

1. Personal favors require private praise. 

2. Domestic comforts demand domestic praise — 
worship in the family ; God confessed in all your busi- 
ness life. 

3. National blessings demand harmonious praise 
from the public voice. 



86 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



For this, the nation should concert the times and 
seasons of its offerings ; and this requires the action 
of magisterial officers, who are the only organs 
through which the public can utter its resolve, or ex- 
press its inclination, to join in offerings of gratitude 
and praise. 

Are praise and thanksgiving to God the only acts 
in which men shall not unite their social powers ? 
At his command, empires rise and fall. We have a 
national character to support before God. 

The first Congress were patriots. They practiced 
frequent religious solemnities. God helped them. 
Shall we forget it ? 

Thanksgiving to God must be the expression and 
fruit of our repentance. We have abused Divine 
benefactions. Gratitude must commence in lament- 
ing that abuse. Without repentance it is mockery. 

If repentance is not in the expression, it is not in 
the heart. It is a law of our constitution that what 
we deeply feel, we long to express, and with diffi- 
culty conceal. If gratitude is in our hearts, thanks- 
giving and praise will be rendered by the lips, and by 
every appropriate method, in all appropriate times. 

IV. The utility of gratitude. 

Gratitude is useful, because it invites the continued 
and increased efforts of benevolence toward the thank- 
ful. This is not only true between man and man, 
but also between man and his Creator. Ingratitude 
diverts the charities of Heaven from him whose in- 
grate heart is found to cherish it. Or, if such receive 
the gifts of Heaven, those gifts are charged to their 
account as blessings, abused, perverted, and to be 



CKA TITUDE. 



87 



accounted for, in such a manner as that they prove a 
curse, by increasing the horrors of the day of retri- 
bution. 

Useful in its expression, because it communicates 
to others a testimony of God's goodness ; nourishes 
other virtues, as benevolence — and especially the 
grateful man, in change of circumstances, would be 
benevolent. 

If gratitude is a virtue, it is not true that all vir- 
tue consists in disinterested benevolence. The lan- 
guage of gratitude is, "We love him because he first 
loved us." All gratitude arises from the impression 
that good has been received from the object of grate- 
ful affection. Gratitude always sees the giver through 
the gift. The benefice is the channel through which 
the grateful heart pours forth, its holy offerings to the 
gracious benefactor. 

Whoever will read the Bible with diligent attention, 
and give it a fair interpretation, will not fail to see 
that God demands our gratitude, and that his gifts 
are granted with the express intention that they shall 
attract us to the giver. " Despisest thou the riches 
of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, 
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to 
repentance?" How is such language to be reconciled 
with that system of theology which condemns all 
those affections of the heart which are turned toward 
God by the impulse imparted to them through the 
power of his goodness? 

Genuine gratitude has a ready and retentive mem- 
ory. It recollects the favors of last week, and month, 
and year, as well as the blessings of the present day, 



88 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



and hour, and moment Have we a memory which 
delights to cherish the remembrance of God's former 
mercies, and treasure them as the elements of kin- 
dling gratitude and praise ? Are all the instances of 
God's providential favor, and of Jesus' gracious pity, 
recorded on the table of thine heart ? Do you value 
them more than all the gold, and fame, and temporary 
comfort which the world either lavishes, or promises 
to pour, upon you? If so, you are beginning to be 
blessed ; you are commencing the work and entering 
on the joys of angels ; and you are preparing to be 
an angel before the throne of God. But ingratitude 
is sufficient to fashion man, or angel, to a devil ; and 
it has already accomplished the foul deed. 



XL 

THE HEAVENLY STATE. 

"In thy presence is fullness of joy ; at thy right hand there are pleas- 
tires for evermore.' 1 '' Psalm xvi, II. 

Heaven is signified by the terms " Thy presence," 
and " Thy right hand." 

Two particulars should be noticed in regard to it ; 
first, the fullness, and, second, the duration of its joys. 

Heaven is a state and a place. That it is a state 
none question ; that it is a place we might infer from 
philosophical necessity. We have bodies, and shall 
have. The Scriptures affirm it : " I go to prepare a 
place for you." 



THE HEAVENLY STATE. 



8 9 



The general characteristics of heaven are, purity, 
knowledge, and blessedness. Its society are God, an- 
gels, and saints. 

These characteristics are especially spoken of in 
the text, and will form the theme of our discourse. 
There is, in the Divine presence, or in heaven, 
fullness of joy. This implies, negatively, displa- 
cency at nothing, and, positively, complacency in every 
thing. Let us take up the latter. The bliss of par- 
adise implies, 

I. The soul's complacency in all things. 

It implies, 

1. Self-complacency in our intellectual and moral 
characters ; in our knowledge, thoughts, sentiments, 
affections, principles, and purposes. It has nothing 
to regret, condemn, reform, or amend, in our judg- 
ments or our tempers. O how strange it will be to 
us to find every thing right ! 

2. Self-complacency in regard to the past. There 
will be no regret for the past, any more than for the 
present. Now we review our lives with a disappro- 
bation which causes grief. However we may disap- 
prove, in heaven there can be no grief. 

Our past sorrows will not seem too many or too 
severe. We shall feel that we never suffered a pang 
too much. Whether it arose from repentance or from 
providence, whether it was seated in the body or in 
the soul, we shall feel that every pang came in the 
right form, at the right time, and in the right meas- 
ure; that it was neither too light nor too heavy, too 
early nor too late. Every sigh, and tear, and groan, 
every deprivation and every persecution, will then be 

8 



90 



SKETCHES AA T D SKELETONS. 



recollected with inconceivable gratification, and will 
provoke our complacency and gratitude. 

Now, if our living is taken away or our honor is 
tarnished, if our health is impaired, or our friends 
fade and die, we are ready to exclaim against Provi- 
dence, or to wither in silent despair. But the saints 
will remember and review r such afflictions with un- 
speakable satisfaction. 

In that blessed world the sins of this life will in- 
flict upon the soul neither remorse nor repentance. 
Here gracious hearts are filled with godly sorrow at 
the remembrance of transgression and the remains of 
carnal appetite. But the hearts of the glorified will 
not lament. The just made perfect will feel no re- 
pentance, and the sanctified and spotless will have no 
carnal tempers. Now sin provokes in the believers 
self-reproach and indignation. Such can not forgive 
themselves, even when God forgives them. They ab- 
hor themselves like Job, and repent as in sackcloth. 
Their penitence is not distrustful and death-working, 
like the sinner's, but still it is penitence ; and they 
are unwilling to part from it all the days of their life. 
The happiest hours of the best Christians are soft- 
ened by this penitence. They may have ascended the 
mount of regeneration, the mount of faith, the mount 
of love ; but on the loftiest summit they shall find no 
soil barren of repentance, no region so clear and lofty 
as never to see a cloud, or feel the refreshing moist- 
ure of its gently falling showers. Our earthly graces 
are moral buds and blossoms. They are most beauti- 
ful and fragrant when watered with drops of generous 
sorrow. When these buds of grace become the ripened 



THE HE A VENL Y STA TE. 



9 I 



fruits of glory they can endure perpetual sunshine. 
There they will be garnered in a tearless heaven. 

Not even sin in its recollections will afflict the 
sainted spirit. It had a sting on earth which can not 
reach to heaven. The saved will not love sin. They 
will abhor it most intensely, but it will have no power 
to inflict pain or unpleasant regret on the redeemed 
and glorified. Sin purged away by the blood of the 
Lamb will be as though it had not been. The resti- 
tution of the soul to its original innocency and purity 
will be complete. Consider how much rapture must 
arise from perfect self-complacency ! 

II. Complacency in the saints. 

In all of them, whatever relations of amity or hos- 
tility, of love or hatred, like or dislike, we bore to 
them on earth, there is in heaven nothing but com- 
placency. Some innocent persons are disagreeable 
to us here. Their manners offend our tastes. They 
will become very lovely to us in heaven. Some are 
profane and malicious. We avoid and fear them. 
But if washed in the blood of the Lamb they will be- 
come delightful companions. Some were our enemies, 
and injured us in the grossest and most dreadful form. 
We almost felt that if they went to heaven we would 
gladly go elsewhere. How changed in heaven ! If 
there be special friendships in heaven they will spring 
up between such persons. 

III. Complacency in angels. 
Angels differ from saints : 

1. Saints have bodies, angels have not. 

2. Saints have sinned, angels have not. 

3. Saints are redeemed, the angels are not. 



9 2 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



4. Saints have a certain experience of sin and its 
evils, of redemption and its bliss, angels not. 

5. Saints have a peculiar love and joy from these 
sources, the angels have not. 

6. Perhaps angels " excel in might," while man ex- 
cels in intellect, in ardor, and in bliss. We shall 
"awake in his likeness!' "We shall be like him, for 
we shall see him as he is." We shall be "as the an- 
gels of God." It is only in some respects now that 
we are " made a little lower than the angels," What- 
ever difference there may be between the two natures, 
saints will look on angels with complacency, and 
mingle with them with delight. There may, also, be 
some special friendships with angels who ministered 
to us while on earth, as the angels who appeared to 
Jesus strengthening him, or the angels that rescued 
Peter, and Paul, and Silas from prison. 

IV. Complacency in God. 

This will be manifested in his persons, in his attri- 
butes, and in his providences — in his persons as those 
of Father, Son, and Spirit ; in his attributes, whether 
natural, mental, or moral ; and in his providences in 
all that relate to heaven, earth, and hell; but chiefly 
in that economy which gave Jesus to be the Savior 
of the world. Redemption will be the theme of the 
saints forever. 

Such is heaven. How unlike the world of despair, 
where all is displacency ! where the soul delights in 
nothing, and nothing in it ! Without one friend, or 
the possibility of ever finding a friend — a universe of 
foes — -foes to God and to one another — where the soul 
shall never bestow nor enjoy one act of merciful kind- 



THE HE A VENL Y STA TE. 



93 



ness ! Reproach from within and without, from God 
and from associates, and from conscience forever ! 

In conclusion. What hath Jesus wrought for us ! 
How great the happiness of the saints ! How rich 
their reward ! How compensatory of the sorrows of 
separation ! What a balm it is to know that we shall, 
if we be pious, meet our friends who died in Jesus 
before the throne ! This doctrine is involved in the 
account of David's child, Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, 
and where we are forbid to sorrow as those who have 
no hope of being reunited to pious friends forever. 

Death is called a sleep, and the figure would be 
flagrantly incorrect, if at our waking again we should 
not know our friends. The breaches made in our 
earthly connections may be repaired amid the bright- 
ening scenes of heaven. No dark mist or shadow will 
so veil the forms of our friends in paradise as to render 
their features mysterious or unknown. Raised to a 
state ineffably exalted, we may mingle with those 
whose association was so enrapturing below, to com- 
mune of the wonders of redemption, and celebrate 
the grace which led us to glory. We shall re-assem- 
ble, with our children, and parents, and companions, 
to live and love again forever. Surely, then, we may 
rejoice over the solitude of the grave, for it is the pre- 
lude to the fellowships of immortality. O let us seek 
that blessed religion, whose beautiful revelations dis- 
pel the darkness of our bereavements, and, suiting 
themselves to the purest affections of our nature, add 
the bliss of renovated and perpetual friendships to all 
other delights, in God's presence, where there is full- 
ness of joy. 



94 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XII. 

RELUCTANCE OF GOD TO PUNISH SINNERS. 

" Hoiv shall I give thee up, Ephr-aim? Hoiv shall I deliver thee, 
Israel ? How shall I make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Ze~ 
boint ? Mine heart is turned within me ; my repeiitings are kindled to- 
gether." Hosea xi, 8. 

These words were spoken by the prophet in the 
name of God. They express the sentiments of the 
Divine mind toward men as sinners — as redeemed sin- 
ners. Ephraim and Israel, names embracing the ten 
tribes, were the subjects of the interrogations of the 
text. Admah and Zeboim, cities destroyed with Sod- 
om and Gomorrah by the desolating curse of Heaven, 
are mentioned as examples of that vengeance which 
Divine justice awards to backslidden Israel. The ex- 
pressions, " Mine heart is turned within me; my 
repentings are kindled together," are not to be con- 
sidered as indicative of irresolution on the part of 
God ; but rather as a development of deep and ear- 
nest sympathies in the states and prospects of his 
creatures. 

The text teaches us that God is not all intellect. 
The movements of his infinite mind are not in the 
form of cold and heartless speculation. A thousand 
sympathies, holy as the name he bears, and intense 
as the splendors of his throne, give to the actions of 
his infinite mind their divinest forms, their most 
charitable effect. The text teaches us, also, that man 
shares largely in these holy sympathies, and holds an 



RELUCTANCE OF GOD TO PUNISH SINNERS. 95 



eminent place in the considerations of the Divine 
mind. We say the text teaches us these truths con- 
cerning God, and concerning man ; for what God was 
when he lamented over Ephraim, in the language of 
the text, such is God now. And what sinners were 
among the tribes of Israel, when Hosea waked the 
notes of his prophetic harp in numbers so bold, pa- 
thetic, and severe, to sing their miseries and God's 
anxious care for them, such are sinners now. As the 
instructions of the text, therefore, must be applicable 
to ourselves, we shall attend to the import of these 
instructions, as they are embraced in the following 
proposition : It is with extreme reluctance that God 
punishes sinners. We shall inquire, 

I. Whether this proposition is true. 
II. If true, why is God reluctant to punish 
sinners ? 

III. What interest have we in this subject ? 
I. Is it true that God is reluctant to punish 
sinners ? 

We argue the truth of this proposition, 
1. From the general character of God, as revealed 
in some of his works. His works proclaim him be- 
nevolent. Look at the earth, the eldest offspring of 
his wisdom and might, as he has recorded its history 
in the sacred page. Is there one indication that 
malice had aught to do with this grand enterprise of 
Jehovah? No-; far otherwise. 

The position of the earth, in its relation to the heav- 
enly bodies, calls forth our belief of God's benevo- 
lence. Suppose the earth had been placed at one- 
third its present distance from the sun, and man had 



9 6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



been cursed with an ability to suffer, in deathless 
agony, all that this angry provision of apparent malice 
must have inflicted upon him ! 

Or, suppose it had be'en placed at thrice its present 
distance from the sun, and man had possessed his 
present physical organization, susceptibilities, and 
wants, with this decree added to the present law of 
his existence : "Here live, and here suffer, forever /" 

Or, suppose, lastly, that the earth's orbit had been 
so elongated or compressed, at its extreme and prox- 
imate, or aphelion and perihelion, points, that its 
semi-annual changes would have exposed us to both 
the extremes of suffering, of heat and of cold, which 
would have resulted from the positions already sup- 
posed, suffering intolerable— yet by Divine appoint- 
ment. Perhaps, in either of these cases, we might 
have raised the inquiry whether infinite malevolence 
were not seated on the throne of God ? But, as it is, 
what basis have we for such an inquiry ? God has 
fixed the earth in its proper relations, carefully con- 
sulting our convenience in the arrangements of the 
heavenly bodies. He administers the elements of 
light, and heat, and moisture with modes of precau- 
tion, moderation, and change, which manifestly assure 
us of his tender solicitude for our happiness. In 
doing it, he has made a credible proclamation of his 
benevolence. Heaven and earth utter their testi- 
mony upon the subject in harmonious concord. 

But let us survey the earth in its isolated charac- 
ter, and we shall read more familiar arguments in 
proof of God's benevolence. Partly desolated as it is 
by man's rebellion, and God's attending curse, it still 



RELUCTANCE OF GOD TO PUNISH SINNERS. 97 



carries with it a thousand indices of his benevolence. 
Consider its superficial structure, rich and various in 
soils, producing such abundance and variety of fruits, 
that man is not only supplied with the necessaries of 
life, but absolutely riots amid luxuries which provoke 
his glutted appetite. 

Consider its climates, which, as so many apartments 
of the same mansion, with changes of furniture, orna- 
ments, ceremonies, and luxuries, invite the curious, 
the uneasy, and the unhappy to contentment. 

Consider its sublime and beautiful aspects in scenes 
of Winter and Summer, of mountain and plain, of 
river and streamlet, of ocean, calm, and ruffled, and 
tempest-tossed — all spread before us to feast our vision, 
and to inspire and gratify the requirements of taste. 
Are not these the provisions of benevolence? Did 
ever a parent's love provide for the children of his 
bowels an inheritance so rich, or so beauteous as this ? 
Did ever royal favor furnish so grand or so charming 
a retreat for subjects most distinguished and beloved? 
"God grants us these gifts;" and he refuses to take 
advantage of our forfeiture of this inheritance — for- 
feited by the reckless and persevering rebellion of 
every ingrate within its boundaries. There is no con- 
duct of parent or king that can dimly shadow forth 
the benevolence of these doings. And is it not rea- 
sonable to suppose that the same love which seeks 
the sinner's happiness, and smiles at his joy — which 
choristers a cheerful song at the sinner's repentance 
and return to God — would proceed to the work of 
punishment with regret ? Benevolence never can in- 
flict pain but with regret. The aliment of her own 

9 



9 8 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



bliss is the communication of happiness, and the pre- 
vention of misery. 

God, therefore, must punish sinners with reluctance. 
We argue that God is reluctant to punish sinners, 

2. From the instructions, precepts, threatenings, and 
promises of Scripture. 

3. From his dealings with sinners and saints. 

In these dealings, God evidently designs his provi- 
dential administration, with his gracious reign, com- 
bining gentleness and grace with the use of the rod, 
to open the way for the flow of his love and mercy 
to the desolated heart. Look at examples innumera- 
ble spread over the pages of Holy Scripture, and 
the universal history of man. " Despisest thou the 
riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long- 
suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God lead- 
eth thee to repentance ?" 

4. We argue that God is reluctant to punish sin- 
ners from the fact that he has given his Son to love 
them. The sympathy of Christ with sinners is a 
pledge of the Divine reluctance to punish. 

II. Why is God so reluctant to punish sinners ? 

1. God did not purpose our moral defection and 
misery at our creation. He did not make us sinners ; 
nor constitute us miserable ; nor encourage us to as- 
sume either the character or state of sinners. He 
would not see his original design thwarted, if he 
could prevent it without annihilating our essential 
moral liberty. His efforts to prevent sin, or, when 
committed, to reform the sinner, and his reluctance 
to punish, must be in proportion. 

2. God is reluctant to punish sinners, because his 



RELUCTANCE OF GOD TO PUNISH SINNERS. 99 



Son has died for all, and he regrets to see the cleans- 
ing blood of his dear Son rejected and despised. 

3. God is reluctant to punish sinners, because of 
the extreme severity of that punishment which the 
law of his justice must inflict upon them. We can 
form no adequate conceptions of the severity of that 
punishment. The mind of God comprehends it at a 
glance. Inspiration unfolds it to our minds by im- 
agery the most fearful and appalling. It is like a fire 
never to be quenched, a worm never to die. " It is a 
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 
" Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we per- 
suade men." 

We inquire, 

III. What interest have we in this subject ? 

Did we sustain.no relation to God, were we in the 
origin, mode, and issues of our existence absolutely 
independent of his power, we might more reasonably 
speculate with cold indifference upon his character. 
We might, with more propriety, contemplate him in 
the exercise of his holy charities toward his depend- 
ent creatures, without the excitements of devotion. 
But, sustaining to him, as we do, the relations of 
children, subjects, and beneficiaries, it is otherwise. 

His sympathies embrace us and bleed for us in those 
relations. This should excite in us a deep and inde- 
scribable interest in all the expressions of those sym- 
pathies. The existence of the amicable relations 
among men most commonly produces mutual love and 
reciprocal expressions of regard. This must be the 
case, or the relations must be dissolved. Tokens of 
paternal, regal, or gracious concern, on one side, must 



100 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



be responded to by filial, loyal, and grateful acknowl- 
edgments on the other side, or those amicable rela- 
tions will change their character, and the dependent 
parties will be cut off from all the sympathies of the 
superior parties. 

If the froward and unfortunate child, who is the 
subject of a parent's tears, and a parent's lamenta- 
tions, has a soul so imbruted that he returns not tear 
for tear, and filial penitence for paternal grief, his own 
family will disown him, and paternal justice will ex- 
clude him from his filial rights. 

Is this true ? Consider, then ! The Father of our 
spirits looks down upon us to-day with a mind of 
tender and anxious love. He beholds us, his children, 
wretched and undone ; all the charities of his God- 
head are enlisted in anxious strife for our deliverance. 
He sees our day is coming. He beholds it rising in 
storms upon our souls. The sight is almost appall- 
ing to Omnipotence. He cries, in the burden of 
his ardent longings to save us, " How shall I give 
thee up, sinner!" As though he could not look with 
a calm and steady eye at the issue of our sins, he 
says, in the view of the treasures of wrath which 
await us, " My heart is turned within me !" 

Do our hearts respond in proper exercises of peni- 
tence and love to all this weeping mercy of Heaven? 
Or does this Father, who is in heaven, receive from 
us, the children whom he longs to bless, no tokens of 
our fellowship in his lamentations for us ? Are our 
hearts congealed to ice, are they indurated to ada- 
mant, that no ray of tender and anxious love, or rod 
of power, can open them at God's approach ? Alas ! 



FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST. 



101 



then ; for, like the brutish child, we compel God to 
destroy every amicable relation between us, cut us off 
from all share in his sympathies and love, and reject 
and disinherit us to eternity. 

Alas ! then ; for, if Mercy wakes, and weeps, and 
bleeds in vain, Justice will not unsheath her sword, 
or bend her bow, and make ready her arrow upon the 
string in vain. If in the summing up of all merciful 
dispensations to the sinner, the Almighty Judge must 
act upon the dreadful alternative of either proceeding 
to punishment, or of abandoning his holy law, and 
annulling his plan of redemption, he will abide in his 
holy, wise, and most benevolent purpose of govern- 
ment, and assume his long-deferred, his "strange 
work" of judgment. If the law or the offender must 
perish, the blow must fall upon the offender. If 
God's love do not win us to his heart, God's displeas- 
ure will pursue us to hell. The waves of sympathy 
which move the ocean of his infinite mind will not 
subside without effect. They will waft us to the 
haven, or they will bury us in the ruins of the storm. 



XIII. 

FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST. 

" Ye are my friends, if ye do tuhalsoever I command yon." John xv, 14. 

In our examination of this subject, we shall consider, 
I. The conditions of friendship with Christ. 
II. The excellence of this friendship. 



102 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



I. First, then, the conditions. 

Christ requires none but such as are, in the nature 
of things, absolutely necessary. He is a prophet, a 
priest, and a king. Integrity in these offices forbids 
that he should confess as friends those who do not 
recognize and respect him in these offices. 

Dares the prophet sent by God make friendships 
with them who mock God's Word ? Notice the his- 
tory of Samuel, and Saul, and Jonah, and Nineveh. 

Does a priest make friendships with those who 
desecrate the altar, and the sacrifice — especially J^esus, 
who offered himself? 

Dares a king make friendships with unrepenting 
rebels and traitors, and in the very midst of these 
plottings against his royal government and throne, 
admit them to his confidence and his bosom ? 

Now, all that Jesus requires in the text as a con- 
dition of friendship is that we mock not the prophet ; 
that we pollute not the altar and offering of the priest ; 
that we rebel not against the king. But if we do not 
keep Christ's commands we commit all these offenses. 

Can we expect the prophet to bless us while we 
mock him ? Can we expect the priest to sacrifice for 
us while we curse him ? Can we expect the king to 
embrace us while we plot, as traitors, against his 
throne and honor ? Obey the king, honor the priest, 
and hear the prophet, if you would have his friend- 
ship. 

We make no friendships with our inveterate foes. 
Why should Jesus do it ? To be Christ's friends we 
must do his commandments. This implies, 

I. Knoiving his commands; 



FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST. 



103 



2. Approving them ; 

3. Accepting them, and, lastly, executing them with 
unwavering fidelity. 

Thus we become the friends of Jesus. Abraham 
was called " the friend of God," because he believed 
God and obeyed, and "commanded his children after 
him that they should keep the way of the Lord." 

II. The excellence of this friendship. 

This depends on the character, and union, and deeds 
of the parties. Let us turn to Christ, then, and see 
what his qualifications are for friendship. 

1. He is a lovely friend. In his attributes we find 
every trait of mental and moral grace and beauty. 
All the charms of creation afford but faint images of 
the loveliness of Jesus. 

2. A sincere friend. In making up earthly friend- 
ships we make long experiments on the sincerity of 
others ere we are satisfied. 

3. A patient friend. Patience carried him through 
his life of toil and sufferings to reach our friendship. 
We have as friends put his patience to the test. Try 
your earthly friends as you do Jesus and see how 
they receive it. 

4. A disinterested friend. In earthly friendships we 
dread lest some selfish end should be betrayed by 
them who profess to esteem us. Not so Christ. 

5. An intimate friend. He is a friend to many, yet 
he will not be less near to us on that account. He is 
nearer to us than brothers, parents, children. He 
dwells in us. 

6. An ardent friend. The friendship of Christ 
kindles into the ardor of love. The Church is called 



104 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



his bride to show the ardor of his affection. He loved 
John, but he loves all alike who are alike devoted and 
conformed to him. 

7. A beneficent friend — shepherd to keep the flock — 
vine to support the branches. He will bestow liber- 
ally, as he did in his flesh. 

8. An efficient friend. His efficiency is employed 
in our protection, aid, and culture. He does not en- 
force friendships upon us, but when we accept and 
secure his friendship, his efficiency comes to our aid 
according to our need. 

9. A perfect friend. Perfect purity of life, unwea- 
ried benevolence, equanimity, prudence, fortitude, bold- 
ness, gentleness, meekness, contempt for fame, ardor 
of love for his disciples, all these blended in Jesus 
with opposite qualities. Thus, tender sympathy 
blends with omnipotence, as when Jesus wept at the 
grave of Lazarus. 

10. An everlasting friend. He loves his friends 
unto the end. He will never leave nor forsake them. 
To his last hour while on earth he concerned him- 
self with the happiness of his disciples. The death 
scene of his disciples in all ages gives proof of his 
unfailing love. None were ever left without comfort 
and victory over death. He says to all, " I will not 
leave you comfortless ; I will come to you." " If I 
go away I will come again, and receive you unto my- 
self, that where I am there ye may be also." " I go 
to prepare a place for you." 

Friends sometimes make feasts for each other, 
and Jesus makes feasts for his friends. The table 
is set on earth, but the viands are sent down from 



FRIENDSHIP WITH CHRIST. 



ios 



heaven. He made us a feast last night, and again 
to-night : 

" Blest Jesus, what delicious fare ! 
How sweet thy entertainments are ! 
Never did angels taste above, 
Redeeming grace and dying love." 

Jesus is the only being whose friendship can finally 
avail us. We may have friends on earth without him, 
but they will fail us, one by one, till we are left soli- 
tary and alone, with none to smile on us or comfort 
us forever. 

Companions will fail, brethren will fail, children 
will fail, parents will fail — all but Jesus will fail — and 
if we have not him, the universe will forsake us. 

Jesus is fond of making new friends. He never 
gives up old friends for new, but his bosom can con- 
tain both. He sends out embassies to invite his en- 
emies to come and make peace. And he sends to 
you this night. O how many busy themselves to 
make friends who never think of Jesus ! 

If we gain Christ for our friend we gain other 
friends with him. How often is this the case in 
earthly friendships! One friend recommends us to 
many, whom we should never have otherwise known. 
So the friendship of Jesus introduces us to the fellow- 
ship and confidence of God, of angels, and of men. 
Having prevailed with the angel of the covenant, we 
henceforth, .like Jacob, have power with God and with 
man. 



106 SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 

XIV. 

LOVE OF GOD'S LAW THE TEST OF PIETY. 

" 0, how love I thy Zazu." Psalm cxix, 97. 

This text expresses the sentiment of every true 
Christian. 

I. The law of God is the rule of moral action. 

1. It is a rule to distinguish it from an order. The 
direction to Jonah was an order which concerned 
Jonah alone, whereas law is a permanent and a uni- 
versal rule, as "Thou shalt love," etc. 

2. It is a rule to distinguish it from advice, or coun- 
sel) which we may follow or not as we judge most 
suitable. The rules of God's law do not depend upon 
our approbation, but upon God's will and authority. 
Counsel persuades, but law compels. 

3. It is a rule to distinguish it from a compact, or 
agreement. 

Compact arises from promise, and promise is the 
basis of its obligations. Law waits for no promise, 
but exacts our submission to its precepts. 

In compacts, we determine what we do ; but law 
proclaims the determination of a sicperior concerning 
us, and obliges to submit to his dictation. Thus the 
love of God is a rule. 

4. It is a rule of moral action — by which we mean 
that it regulates the heart as well as the life, and pre- 
scribes our duty to God as well as to man. This 
distinguishes it from municipal law, which is a rule 
of civil conduct. 



THE TEST OF PIETY. 



107 



5. It is a rule prescribed — some say by nature, or 
by providence. All can not read these volumes. 
The ancients did not understand them. They often 
lead astray. They neither of them exhibit the Crea- 
tor as invariably opposed to sin, and pleased with 
holiness. 

The revelation of God's law should be very distinct. 
In the Bible it is so. Not like Caligula. Not "ex 
post facto!' Observe, when the law is published, we 
must know it. Voluntary ignorance is no excuse for 
transgression. 

This law is prescribed by the authority of the Su- 
preme Creator, the highest authority in the universe. 
Creation gives absolute property. As the Lawgiver 
is supreme, his law is paramount, and must be obeyed 
in defiance of all laws inconsistent with the law of 
God. 

Examples : Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego ; 
Daniel ; Peter and apostles ; Martyrs. 

The law of God may conflict with the law of hu- 
man taste or passion. In all such cases it is para- 
mount. We must " take up the cross." 

In social intercourse we are under the law of God: 
"Be not conformed to this world." 

The Divine, as well as municipal, law consists of 
several parts : 

(1.) Declaration — which defines rights and wrongs. 

God is not arbitrary in fixing this part of the law. 
He has assigned us a few positive institutions for 
temporary, though wise, purposes. But the moral 
duties enjoined, and practices prohibited by God's 
law are immutable, and have respect to our essen- 



ioS 



SKETCHES AXD SKELETONS. 



tial happiness, and propose to secure it — as, love of 
God, belief in Christ, etc. 

(2.) Another part of the law is the direction. This 
is generally blended with the declaration. The law 
which says thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, declares the rectitude and directs the ex- 
ercise of this law in the same sentence. 

(3.) The third part of the law of God is its sanc- 
tion. This differs, in some respects, from the sanction 
of human laws, which is vindicatory only, and con- 
sists of punishment, whereas the sanctions of the Di- 
vine law consist of both vindication and remunera- 
tion, or of punishment and of reward. 

This a most important part of law, and is essential 
to it. No rule has the force of law, unless it embrace 
provisions of a penal character. Where there is not 
authority to announce, and virtue to inflict, punish- 
ment, there is no legislative qualification to originate 
law. 

Explanation. In voluntary associations, ecclesias- 
tical, charitable, or miscellaneous, rules may be as- 
sumed to regulate the intercourse of the members, 
but these rules have not the force of law. Example 
in the Church government — for instance, the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Her members are formed 
into one communion, under certain rules. These 
rules have issued from a body of Christ's ministers, 
who stand no way connected, except as private citi- 
zens, with the political authorities of the land. They 
are, therefore, vested with no legislative powers, and 
their rules are as counsel to persuade, not as law to 
inipose duties. If any member refuses to be per- 



THE TEST OF PIETY. 



ICQ 



suaded by these rules, the Church can inflict no pen- 
alty. She can only, u in extremo" withdraw from the 
society of her unruly members. 

So important is the sanction of law. The sanction 
should be very plainly expressed — the penalty as well 
as the reward. The sanctions of the law express the 
moral sense of the law-maker, as to the excellence of 
the precept, and the evil of sin. 

IL Why do Christians love God's law ? 

Because, 1. It is the index of his capacities, present 
or possible. 

2. It is the measure of his obligations. 

3. The Holy Spirit uses it as an instrument in 
converting and bringing him to Christ. 

As an instrument of conviction : "By the law is the 
knowledge of sin. I had not known sin but by the 
law ;" " I was alive without the law, but when the 
commandment came, sin revived, and I died." 

As an instrument of conversion : Knowledge of 
sin prepares us to accept Christ. "The law [moral 
as well as Levitical] is our school-master to bring us 
to Christ f "The law of the Lord is perfect, convert- 
ing the soul." 

4. Because Christ died to honor it, and lived to il- 
lustrate its excellence. Such is God's love for his 
own law. 

5. It is a charter of privilege, calling him, 
(1.) To a certain service; and, 

(2.) To an honorable service. 

And securing, first, a certain, and, second, a glori- 
ous reward. 



no 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



IMPROVEMENT. 

1. It affords a test of character. We can deter- 
mine whether we are Christians by determining 
whether we love God's law. If we love the law we 
shall delight to meditate upon it. Ps. i. 

2. There is an absolute connection between loving 
and obeying the law. 

3. There is a connection between the love of the 
law, and a thirsting after a perfect conformity to its 
pure and perfect precepts. If we possess the former, 
the latter will follow. 



XV. 

THE TRUE GLORY OF GOD. 

" And he said, I beseech thee show me thy glory. Arid he said, I will 
make all my goodness pass before thee" etc. Ex. xxxiii, 18, 19. 

We notice here the condescension of God. The 
request of Moses was not mere bold curiosity. He 
had seen much on Sinai ; he longed for a fuller man- 
ifestation of God — perhaps, of his regal splendor also. 
God would show him his glory by making all his 
goodness pass before him. We will speak, 
I. Of the glory of God ; and, 

II. Of the PECULIAR DISPLAY OF IT TO MOSES. 

I. The glory of God. 
Not all the perfections of Deity, but those which 
distinguish him in excellence, through which the per- 



THE TRUE GLORY OF GOD. 



Ill 



fection of his nature is made most conspicuous to his 
universe. 

The glory of God consists of infinite wisdom, flower, 
and goodness. 

Wisdom is glory. There is nothing in man that 
excites higher admiration than profound knowledge 
and splendid abilities. What fame still attaches to the 
names of ancients, as Solon, Archimedes, Socrates, 
and Plato ! How do we venerate the Newtons and 
the Bacons of modern times ! It was always so. 
The wisdom , of Solomon was the chief luster of his 
throne. 

The wisdom of God implies omniscience, or the 
survey of past, present, and future. 

Power is glory, Impotence excites our pity, per- 
haps, our contempt. Power awakens our admiration 
and awe. The conquerors of the world have been 
admired. Apart from their moral qualities we have 
paid homage to the power of man even in such. 
God is omnipotent. We could not endure the con- 
templation of his power but in limited degrees, and 
in quiet and attractive manifestations. We could not 
endure the contemplation of the magnitudes, weight, 
and velocities of the heavenly bodies, only as their 
distance, beauty, the noiselessness of their motions, 
and the settled harmony of their relations softened 
the scene, and lent a charm to the view. 

Goodness, or benevolence, is glory. God is infi- 
nitely good. If we admire human goodness, as in a 
Howard, or a Wilberforce, what adoring conceptions 
must we form of God, who is "good to all, and whose 
tender mercies are over all his works !" 



1 12 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



II. Let us consider the peculiar display of 
God's glory to Moses. 

The answer of God to Moses is peculiar. God 
said : " I will make all my goodness to pass before 
thee." 

Here two questions arise : Why, and how did God 
thus display his glory? 

i. Why, in showing him his "glory" did he cause 
his "goodness " to pass before him ? 

(i.) It might be to intimate that his goodness is his 
greatest excellence — the greatest of his glories. 

Not so with unsanctified man. Intelligence and 
migJit are his ambition, and he would rather display 
them amid the groans of a battle-field than forbear 
the applause they claim. 

(2.) Because his goodness was best suited to our 
necessities, though not to our character and deserts. 

He stooped to our wants, and consulted our dis- 
tresses. How unlike wicked man ! His goodness is 
to us like his mercy to the camp of Israel, when he 
led them through the sea; but his wisdom and 
strength, without that goodness, would trouble us like 
the hosts of the Egyptians. 

His goodness is like the sunshine and the gentle 
rain ; his power, to sinners, like the tempest and the 
thunder-bolt. 

His goodness does not smite us to the eartn, and 
make us shake as dead men ; but it is like the coun- 
tenance of Joseph when he comforted his brethren, 
meek and gentle as the clear Summer morn. It is 
like the countenance of Jesus when, risen from the 
sepulcher, he met his afflicted followers, and said : 



THE TRUE GLORY OF GOD. 



"3 



"Why are ye troubled, and why do thoughts arise in 
your hearts ? It is I, be not afraid." 

(3.) God caused his goodness to pass before Moses, 
because he could not bear a sight of his other perfec- 
tions. Israel quaked in his presence, and entreated 
Moses that God should not speak to them any more 
lest they should die, and Moses himself said, "I ex- 
ceedingly fear and quake." 

There is terror to the wounded conscience in the 
simple display of power. Could our vision become 
so clear and ample as to survey the flight of worlds, 
the sight would dry up our spirits. 

The wisdom and power of Solomon so affected the 
Queen of Sheba that there was no more spirit in her. 

The eye of wisdom is too weak to gaze at infinite 
wisdom, and the spirit of man is too feeble to endure 
the vision of God's power. 

Holiness of God is still more terrible to man. Jus- 
tice is an object yet more dreadful. But goodness, 
benevolence, love, is a meek and gentle attribute, and 
the survey of it is calculated to raise the most gentle 
and placid emotions in the soul. So God, placing 
his hand over Moses, caused his goodness to pass be- 
fore him. 

(4.) Another reason why God showed his goodness 
was, that this was not only a veil drawn, as it were, 
over his other perfections, but the chief adorning of 
them. The. law of Sinai might seem severe, but 
"God was love." His wisdom and power are secret; 
his goodness open and revealed. 

(5.) His goodness is best calculated to lead us to 
repentance, 

10 



H4 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2. How did God cause his goodness to pass before 
Moses ? Was it by a prophetic vision of Israel's 
prosperity ? This was but a rill from the fountain. 
How then ? By the cross ? No doubt the object 
which, at that moment, filled the eye and heart of 
Moses was the cross of Jesus, the grand epiphany of 
the Son of God. It might have been like a mount 
of transfiguration, wherein was displayed to the mind 
more perfectly the object and end of all legal types 
and shadows — the meaning of that wonderful system 
of law which he had received on Sinai. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. The happiness of good men will consist of the 
survey and the enjoyment of God's goodness forever. 
This happiness we may commence on earth. Nothing 
is so good a medicine for a sin-sick soul as to gaze 
at goodness; nothing so great a joy and rapture as 
this ; it will strew mercies in our way, and make our 
path a shining light. 

Let us gaze at goodness till, going before us as 
before the wise men, it shall guide us to the spot 
where Jesus is ; not only to the manger, but to the 
throne. 

2. If goodness is so glorious in God, let us, in this, 
imitate him. We can, should, must. 

Let us not glory in wisdom, riches, might; but let 
us seek the mind that was in Christ. 

Wicked men are none the better off because God 
is good. The streams of his goodness flow toward 
them, but they refuse to drink of those streams. 

3. In rejecting and despising Jesus Christ, the sin- 



THE TRUE LIBERTY. 



115 



ner rejects and despises all the goodness of God. By 
the cross, all that goodness is displayed. 

We are led to observe the absurdity of that sys- 
tem of doctrine which, on the one hand, places reli- 
ance on the goodness of God alone in bringing men 
to repentance, and, on the other, resorts to punish- 
ment in this world and the next to effect it. It is 
grace, not wrath ; Jesus, not penalty, that saves men. 
Afflictions may be so sanctified as to awaken the sin- 
ner to the evil of sin, and dread of wrath, and induce 
serious thoughtfulness ; but it is the "goodness of 
God that leadeth to repentance." 

4. As a people, we are under peculiar obligations 
to adore, and praise, and imitate the goodness of Al- 
mighty God, like Israel. 



XVI. 

THE TRUE LIBERTY. 

" If the Son, tJurefore, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" 
John viii, 31. 

The world is in a state of bondage ; yet a large 
portion of it is full of zeal in the cause of liberty. 
This zeal is accounted an honorable passion, and it 
has delivered, thousands over to the immortality of 
fame. To this we do not object ; for, although the 
liberty which a Washington bestows upon his coun- 
try is partial and ephemeral, and not perfect and eter- 
nal, yet it is a boon of priceless value, and demands 



n6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



a nation's gratitude and the world's admiration. May 
the civil constitutions which have arisen, phcenix-like, 
from the dissolution of old provincial and revolution- 
ary governments, improved and perfected in all their 
features, endure like time, and perish only with the 
world ! 

But while we bless our country, and confess its 
high prerogatives, we must and do insist that our 
liberal constitutions and their equitable administra- 
tion can secure no real liberty to the soul. They can 
guard us by Heaven's blessing from the tyranny of 
man, but we have other and worse enemies to fear,, 
against which civil power provides no defense, and 
can afford no protection. They are ignorance, passion, 
and the powers of darkness. These foes are so subtle, 
and invisible, and violent, that they scorn and baffle 
all the wisdom, and diligence, and potency of mere 
earthly jurisdictions. And their tyranny is worse 
than man's, for it falls upon our noblest part, the 
soul, and there inflicts its cruelties, whereas earthly 
tyrants can only approach our flesh, and impose 
chains and prisons on our corrupting bodies. 

Our greatest zeal, then, in the cause of liberty 
should be to secure the freedom of our immortal spir- 
its ; and our indignation should be chiefly directed 
against those foes which persecute, with the steady 
purpose of reducing us to a most cruel and an eter- 
nal bondage. 

From the language of the text we infer these par- 
ticulars : 

I. That our condition without Christ is al- 
ways EXTREMELY SERVILE. 



THE TRUE LIBERTY. 



117 



II. That Christ offers to bestow on us per- 
fect AND LASTING LIBERTY. 

III. That the motives to seek and accept this 

LIBERTY ARE INFINITELY WEIGHTY. 

I. First, then, our state without Christ is ex- 
tremely servile. 

Satan is the head of all those powers which usurp 
dominion over sinners. But he is indifferent as to 
the agency by which the soul is held in bondage. 

1. It may be by the lusts of the flesh — appetite ; or, 

2. By the lust of the eye — curiosity. It may be the 
body reigns over the soul, and makes the angel serve 
the brute ; or, 

3. The passions govern the understanding, and rea- 
son and conscience are in chains. 

4. Suppose a man has annihilated reason and con- 
science — is he not free then ? No ; else hell is a state 
of freedom. In that case a civil broil springs up among 
the passions, and, like a dozen tyrants fighting for 
the mastery, a conflict will be carried on. Ambition 
and love of ease, avarice and ostentation, pride and 
love of praise, fear and revenge, shame and self-in- 
dulgence, will pitch battle against each other, and 
the soul will be slave of each by turns, and each will 
lay upon her fresh and overwhelming burdens. 

But this bondage consists not only of an inward 
state, but of a legal, servile condition. Laws make 
men slaves even if their persons bear no mark of 
bondage. Our forefathers bore upon their persons 
no marks of servility, but the laws of the parent 
country involved the principle of servility, and prac- 
tically took away their freedom. At first the servility 



n8 



SKETCHES AiYD SKELETONS. 



existed in the principle or idea, but, becoming a law, 
its effects were soon transferred to the outward life 
and condition. A criminal may appear to the eye of 
the observer like the innocent citizen, but their legal 
states are wide apart as slavery and bondage. Crime 
forfeits his liberty, and the law that was pledged to 
protect him now disrobes him of his citizen's privi- 
lege, and he stands under sentence of death. 

Sinners are in bondage to the law of God. Having 
violated the law, they are condemned by it. They 
are deprived of their liberty by the decision of a 
Judge whose sentence is just and irrevocable. 

So Paul — "When the commandment came, sin re- 
vived and I died " — became dead in law. He at once 
saw himself under arrest of law, condemned, and held 
fast under the death penalty. 

II. Christ offers liberty, perfect and eternal. 

i. He offers legal freedom. We have seen that a 
person may become legally enslaved in two ways : 
First, by the force of bad laws ; second, by coming 
under condemnation to good and wholesome laws. 
But the law of God is "holy, just, and good ;" and its 
perfect precept protects, not impairs, the truest free- 
dom of the obedient soul. We have need, therefore, 
to be made legally free, not by new legislation, or 
any change in the law, but by pardon, or bringing us 
from under the bondage of guilt. Not by changing 
the law, but by bringing us into harmonious relations 
to law, Christ makes us legally free. We are set free 
from the enslaving power of the penalty. Christ 
came to fulfill the law by satisfying its claim in our 
behalf, and by conforming us to its precepts. Like a 



THE TRUE LIBERTY. 



prince, who not only proclaims pardon for the past, 
but renders the subject obedient and happy under the 
law. 

2. Christ gives liberty by destroying the works of 
the devil. Men "are taken captive by him at his 
will." He is like a "strong man armed, keeping his 
palace," but a " stronger than he cometh," and despoil- 
eth him. 

3. By producing harmony among the powers of 
the soul. Sin disarranges every thing. Regeneration 
and perfect love to God restore the soul to its proper 
harmony, peace, and pardon. The liberty of a people 
does not necessarily result upon crushing the power 
of foreign tyranny. They may not be prepared to 
estimate and maintain their liberty, and to free them 
from foreign oppression may only surrender them to 
become a prey to new tyrants from among themselves. 
Many nations have lost their freedom from internal 
causes. So a man, reprieved from prison and set free 
from the penalty of law, if the love of sin is yet strong 
in him, and the habit of sin still holds him — " if he is 
still "under the law of sin" — will soon repeat the 
crime and be brought back to bondage, and enslaved 
by the law. Without regenerating and sanctifying 
grace there is no freedom of the soul. Without moral 
freedom from sin there can be no legal freedom. 
Christ makes free from legal slavery, from moral and 
spiritual slavery, and from " bondage to the elements 
of the world." 

4. By bringing the body under the dominion of the 
soul. This is partly involved in the previous head. 
But observe particularly, appetite and the "lust of 



120 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life " 
enslave ; reason and conscience extend the mild gov- 
ernment of freedom over all the powers of our being. 

III. The motives to seek and accept this lib- 
erty ARE INFINITELY WEIGHTY. 

How precious is freedom ! If only partial and tem- 
poral, yet how much we hazard for it ! How much 
more, then, when it is to be perfect and eternal ! 
How should we sacrifice all for this ! It is necessary 
to our dignity, the foundation for all noble and he- 
roic virtues. As slavery degrades, so liberty ennobles. 
It is necessary to happiness. Think of eternal bondage ! 

Here our slavery is mitigated by Jesus. It is re- 
lieved by many diversions which the wicked invoke 
to their aid and relief. But no alleviation of the gall- 
ing chains of sin in hell. There bondage is hopeless. 
Come to Christ and be made " free indeed." 



XVII. 

NO PEACE TO THE WICKED. 

" There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.'''' Isaiah lvii, 21. 

In our examination of this passage, we will attend, 

I. TO THE FACT. 
II. To ITS CAUSES. 

III. TO ITS MISAPPREHENSION. 

IV. TO THE ONLY METHOD OF OBTAINING PEACE. 

I. The fact. 

There are three sources of evidence to prove it. 



NO PEACE TO THE WICKED. 



121 



1. The history of man — history of individuals — his- 
tory of nations. There is no exception. 

2. Experience — yourself. Many have momentary 
pleasure, but who has peace t Whose spirit is visited 
with daily sunshine, and is filled with a calm and con- 
tented serenity, which leaves the heart nothing to de- 
sire this side of heaven, and which dismisses the fear 
of change and loss by succeeding satiety, or separa- 
tion ? There is a difference between the light of con- 
suming fires, such as may represent the pleasures of 
sin, and the everlasting sunshine which cheers the 
Christian's heart. To the sinner may come the ex- 
citing pleasures which, like the conflagration of cities, 
leave desolation behind. 

3. God's Word. He created all things, and insti- 
tuted their relations of harmony and discord ; of suit- 
ableness and unsuitableness to each other. He gave 
to each object its particular nature, and established 
the law of its influence on all other objects. The 
reciprocal power of mind and matter, of thought and 
sentiment, of reason and consciousness, is under his 
wise control ; and he has ordained an eternal con- 
nection between sin and misery. It is the relation 
of cause and effect. Of this he warns us in every 
page of his Word, and exhibits the immutability of 
the law in the agonies of his dying Son. 

Thus plenary is the evidence that sin and misery 
are indissolubly wedded. Their conjunction is seen 
in our history, in our experience, and in the 
testimony of Him who has bound them together 
by the purpose of his omnipotent and immutable 
will. 

11 



122 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



II. The causes of the sinners unhappiness. 

We trace this ultimately to the constitution of things. 
But what is that constitution ? It has many secrets, 
but two things we can trace in it philosophically : 
First, it requires, to render the soul peaceful, that 
the affections should be all occupied and entertained ; 
and, second, that harmony should prevail among those 
affections and all other powers of the mind. 

1. The affections must be occupied, absorbed. 
They are the natural desires of the soul, with the 
idea of constancy, or permanency, added. Like all 
natural desires they have their appropriate objects, 
and become sources of happiness only in the posses- 
sion of these legitimate objects. Left without these, 
they are unoccupied, vacant, and become sources of 
misery. The soul shrinks from this vacancy ; but 
this vacancy exists in the affections of every sinner. 
The human soul is too capacious to be filled by any 
creature. Every sinner feels it so. Sinners worship 
alternately themselves and other creatures as diminu- 
tive as themselves. 

Solomon says, "Vanity of vanities." Their hearts 
are in an eternal travail — like the ocean in a storm — 
after something. They stretch the wings of strong de- 
sire, and fly over earth and ocean for some creature, 
or mass of creatures, to fill the torturing emptiness 
within them. Nature and God war against them. 

2. Harmony is necessary to peace. The sinner can 
not have it. Reason and conscience war against ap- 
petite and passion, and these hostile powers render 
his own soul the seat of war. This is the most 
fearful of all wars — of all the most destructive. 



NO PEACE TO THE WICKED. 



123 



Conscience and reason, the two eternal arbiters of truth 
and duty in the soul, dethroned and at war with the 
baser passions ! The minions of hell let loose against 
the faithful ministers of Heaven ! And this war and 
anarchy at the seat of the human consciousness ! 

III. The misapprehension of the cause of this 

DISTURBANCE. 

The sinner knows he is unhappy. He is unsatis- 
fied, and subject to fear and remorse. But he thinks 
his case peculiar. Not so. It is common to all other 
sinners. He thinks he is an exception to the com- 
mon rule, that all sinners but himself are happy. But 
could he look into their hearts, and trace the secret 
and often fearful workings of their minds and con- 
sciences, he would see, as he can not now see, there 
is no peace to the wicked. 

IV. The method of escape. 

Sin and misery must be put away together. They 
can not be separated. Remove the cause and the 
effect ceases. Jesus' blood alone can save. An evil 
conscience is the greatest of miseries. Revolutions 
of empires are nothing to its agony. The blood of 
Christ alone "purges the conscience." He alone is 
" our peace." Fly to Jesus. 



124 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XVIII. 

CHRIST'S LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM. 

"And zvhen he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it, say- 
ing, If thou Jiadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things 
which belong unto thy peace I But now are they hid from thine eyes.'''' 
Luke xix, 41, 42. 

Here is lamentation in the midst of regal triumphs. 
Christ was now fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 
(ix, 9), "Thy King cometh unto thee ; just, and having 
salvation, lowly," etc. The hour had come when it was 
meet to reveal some of his royal and Divine splen- 
dors, through the shadows of his humanity. But the 
sight of Jerusalem awoke his compassion, and drew 
tears from his eyes, and lamentations from his lips, 
while the multitude cried, "Hosannah!" The cause 
of his tears was that Jerusalem was dear to God — 
she had received great blessings and slighted them — 
the greatness of her approaching calamities by the 
Romans — her time of deliverance was past. 

Had Christ his eye on eternal retributions? 
Doubtless. Let us then apply the similitude. 
I. Certain things belong to our peace. 

II. There is a "day," or time, to know them. 
III. The loss of this day, or season, is cause 

OF DEEPEST LAMENTATION. 

I. Certain things belong to our peace. 

1. All truth has its importance, and, in various de- 
grees, may serve our welfare, but certain things are 
indispensable to our eternal happiness. Our "peace," 



CHRIST'S LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM. 



125 



our peace with God, is the result of definite and fixed 
causes, and is provided for according to one settled 
and unaltered plan. The world of Nature illustrates 
the thought. All the order, beauty, harmony, and 
beneficent results of the material world result from 
established causes. He that would successfully pur- 
sue any avocation dependent on soil, climate, and 
seasons, must know this fixed order of God in Na- 
ture. He must know the things belonging to his 
proposed calling — the causes leading to success. 

But more settled than Nature is the system of 
moral truth, by which the soul finds peace. 

2. The things which belong to our peace are, 

(1.) The doctrine of Christ — his atonement, media- 
tion, intercession. 

(2.) The doctrine of the Holy Ghost — his office 
and agency in the salvation of man. 

(3.) Human accountability. 

(4.) The conditions of pardon and sanctification, 
etc., with repentance and faith. Repentance turns 
our face toward God, faith brings us to him. To 
know these things is not to contemplate them, have 
an intellectual perception of them merely, but to 
believe, accept, and do them. 

II. There is a "day," or a time, to know these 

THINGS. 

Jesus calls it " thy day," and " the time of thy vis- 
itation." This implies that it is an appointed time, 
or season, for this very end. We notice, 

1. This day, or time, of mercy is, in its largest 
sense, the period of human life. It is the period 
given for the probation of human beings. The Jews' 



126 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



day was that of Christ's incarnation, presence, mira- 
cles, power, and promises. Our day is when we have 
the Gospel. 

It is not only time, but time specially appropriated 
to given uses and ends. This time is known by the 
opportune concurrence of all the means and favora- 
ble circumstances for these ends. How does the 
farmer know the season of seed-time, or harvest, but 
by such signs? So with our day of grace: "Now is 
the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion." The Holy Spirit, the Word, the ministry, and 
Church providences and revival influences, all concur 
to make this the favored time for your salvation. 

No probation, no Gospel ministry, no offers of 
Christ to the impenitent beyond this life. 

2. The day of salvation may not always be co-ex- 
tensive with human life. It is not only terminated 
by death, but by moral causes — such as the with- 
drawal of the Holy Spirit, hardness and indifference 
of the heart toward God and religion, confirmed 
habits of sin, mental, and physical, and social, which 
practically bind and disable us. Such indifference to 
God may be induced by long habits of unbelief, and 
resistance of the Holy Spirit, as to virtually end the 
day of grace ; especially where age combines with 
habit to extinguish holy desire, and establish the law 
of sin and unbelief. 

Solomon warns the young against the delay of re- 
ligion "till the evil day" — old age— come when, by 
physical condition, the mind becomes inoperative and 
the faculties inadequate to repent. 

Paul refers to this state of confirmed and irreclaim- 



CHRIST'S LA ME NT O VER JER USALEM. 1 2 7 



able hardness and unbelief when he says: "Behold 
ye despisers, and wonder, and perish, for I work a 
work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise 
believe, though a man declare it unto you." Acts 
xiii, 41. 

Isaiah (lv, 6) alludes to it by implication : " Seek ye 
the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him 
while lie is near" 

Paul directly asserts that by judicial judgment men 
are sometimes abandoned to believe and practice a 
lie, "because they received not the truth, but had 
pleasure in unrighteousness." 2. Thess. ii, 11, 12. 
This was the dreadful condition of the Jewish people 
(John xii, 37-41) ; and this passage last quoted was 
recorded of them at the moment when Christ forever 
closed his personal ministry to that people. 

So, sinner, it may be with thee. Long before your 
natural death, you may reach such a degree of hardness, 
and habit of unbelief, and resisting the Holy Ghost, 
as to leave the moral forces of the Gospel powerless 
to affect you, or induce in you one anxious thought, 
or candid purpose of repentance. Then "your day," 
the "day of visitation," wherein you might "know 
the things which make for your peace," will be past, 
and those things will be forever " hid from your eyes." 

III. The loss of this day, and of the knowledge 
of the things that make for our peace, is cause of 
deepest lamentation. 

1. Because the day of grace, once lost, never re- 
turns. 

If, by confirmed habits of mind and body, we have 
placed ourselves beyond the reclaiming power of the 



128 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



ordinary and promised grace of the Gospel, we have 
no ground to expect a miracle to be wrought to re- 
store us. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or 
the leopard his spots ?" etc. 

If, by age and infirmity, the period of mental activ- 
ity and reformation is gone by, youth and vigor will 
never return to afford us another opportunity of re- 
pentance. " Remember now thy Creator in the days 
of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the 
years draw nigh in which thou shalt say, I have no 
pleasure in them." 

If, by judicial visitation, you are left to hardness of 
heart and blindness of mind, this is a sentence never 
to be reversed. The Jews, as a nation, were not 
reclaimed, after Christ had said : "Behold your house 
is left unto you desolate." The ancient kingdom 
of Israel was not reclaimed after God had said : 
" Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone." 
Hosea iv, 17. The antediluvians were not reclaimed, 
after God had withdrawn his Spirit from them. (Gen. 
vi, 3.) The ancient nations sank down to the vilest 
depths of heathenism, without power in themselves 
to recuperate, when God " gave them up to unclean- 
ness, through the lusts of their heart," "because that 
when they knew God they glorified him not as God, 
neither were thankful," and "changed the truth of 
God into a lie, and worshiped, and served the creature 
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever- 
more." "And even as they did not like to retain 
God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a 
reprobate mind." Rom. i, 21-28. 

And -yet, with all these, and numberless other ex- 



CHRIST'S LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM. 



129 



amples before them, sinners dare to renew the dread- 
ful experiment of neglecting and despising their day 
of grace ! When the kingdom of Judah had rejected 
all the warnings of the prophets, and had been given 
over to judgment, their last prophet, standing among 
the ruins of his nation, exclaimed: "The harvest is 
past, the Summer is ended, and we are not saved." 
That, sinner, will be your lamentation, when God 
shall " hide from your eyes the things which belong 
to your peace." 

2. Because this period is always preceded by a 
state of grace and hope. " How oft would I have 
gathered you," says Jesus ; " The kingdom of God is 
come nigh unto you ;" " If I had not come, and spoken 
to them, they had not had sin, but now they have no 
cloak for their sin." The perversion of the gracious 
state has induced this condition of irreclaimable, ju- 
dicial blindness. What themes for memory and con- 
science ! Here are the ingredients of hell ! 

3. The preciousness of the soul. 

Christ well knew the worth of the soul, the dangers 
of impenitence, and the horrors of an evil destiny. 
He comprehended the future — heaven and hell — the 
greatness of the loss, and the depth of the woe of a 
condemned spirit. One glimpse of the eternal states 
of men would fill thy soul with horror at the thought 
of losing this day, this hour of mercy. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. Sympathy for confirmed infidels is proper — Jesus 
wept. No true love of God without deep sympathy 
for souls. 



130 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2. Sympathy, even the deepest, should not excuse 
them. Christ weeps, and says: "Thou that killest 
the prophets," etc. The Divine office of sympathy 
for ruined men offers no apology, or connivance, for 
their sins, and, therefore, no exemption from punish- 
ment. The law in its rectitude, God in his holiness, 
sin in its demerit, must not be overlooked in a mis- 
taken sympathy for the condition and danger of in- 
corrigible sinners. The physician, in his desire to 
save life, must not be indifferent to the malignity of 
the disease, nor abate the sternness of the remedy. 
Christ "condemns sin in the flesh," while he dies to 
atone for it. 

3. Sympathy should not lead us to suppose that sin- 
ners will not be punished with fearful destruction. 
Christ weeps, and pronounces the sentence: "Your 
house is left unto you desolate;" "The days shall 
come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench 
about thee, and thy children within thee, because 
thou knowest not the time of thy visitation." 

Christ's great compassion does not always save. 
His wonderful mercy will deliver the hitherto most 
incorrigible, if they repent; but his tears of regret 
and pity over the impenitent will not avert their 
doom. He said to Ephraim : " How shall I give thee 
up ?" But he did give him up. The wicked ante- 
diluvians "grieved him at his heart," yet he destroyed 
them. 

4. Every infidel, every hardened, irreclaimable crim- 
inal, or worldling, has, at some point in his moral his- 
tory, voluntarily, willfully, and wantonly encouraged 
his unbelief, and fortified himself in his error. 



THE CROWN OF GLORY. 



Infidels, no less than criminals, are self-made. 

5. Let Christians rejoice. See what dangers you 
have escaped. Most of you embraced religion in 
youth — few in old age. Had you deferred it, you 
might now have been an infidel, or in perdition. 

6. The zeal and prayers of the Church should be 
earnestly directed toward the young. The hope of 
the Church gathers around the Sabbath-school, early 
Christian culture, and conversion — the spring-time of 
life, and the budding of immortality. 



XIX. 

THE CROWN OF GLORY. 

"A crown of glory that fadeth not away." 1 Peter v, 4. 

I. What is a crown? 

It is an ornament worn on the head, of an emblem- 
atic significance. It is a token, 

1. Of dignity and honor ; 

2. Of power. 

So the crown of kings ; the crown of Grecian 
athletes. 

II. What is this crown in particular ? 

I. It is a crown of righteousness ; comprehending 
justification and its fruits, regeneration and sanctifi- 
cation ; in a word, the entire work of salvation. It is 
called a "crown of righteousness," because it repre- 
sents the perfect holiness of the saints, as the crown 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



of a monarch represents his power and dignity; or it 
may be so called because righteousness itself is the 
crown, being more costly and beautiful than gold and 
precious stones. Thus the "breastplate of righteous- 
•ness " is righteousness itself, put on as a breastplate. 
The "girdle of truth" is truth itself, answering to 
the saint the uses of the military girdle. The same 
of the phrases, " shield of faith," " helmet of salva- 
tion," and the like. 

2. It is a crown of "glory" that is, of honor. 

First. This honor of the saints arises from their vic- 
tories, which are the more glorious as their enemies 
were the more numerous, subtle, and powerful, and 
their weapons simple, and, to human eyes, inadequate. 
Second. It embraces, also, their immortality. The 
humiliation of time, and change, and death, will be 
overcome. Third. This " crown of glory " also implies 
the approbation of all the good. The character of the 
saints will appear beautiful, and all will approve it as 
the image of the Master. For the same reason God, 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, will approbate them, 
and Christ will say to them, "Well clone; come, ye 
blessed children of my Father." " Glory," in its moral 
sense, is the honor arising from the approbation and 
esteem of the holy, the true, and the just. Fourth. 
But this "glory" doubtless implies, also, that this 
crown has an aspect of beauty and splendor to the 
beholder. 

3. It is an unfading crown. It " fadeth not away," 
says Peter. 

This implies that the crown shall not depreciate 
or perish, as do the choicest things of earth ; and, 



THE CR WN OF GL OR Y. 



133 



secondly, that to beholders it shall not become less 
glorious and attractive because of the long-continued 
gazing at it. 

4. This crown is " reserved in Jieaven" which im- 
plies, 

(1.) That it is already in being. Christ has already 
provided all the component elements of this crown 
in the processes of redeeming and sanctifying grace, 
and the final reward appropriate to the faithful re- 
ception and use of the same. He has measured in 
his mind the grace provided for you, and the appro- 
priate reward of your faithfulness, and has prepared 
your crown accordingly ; and his words to you are, 
"Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou 
hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. iii, 11. 

(2.) The words "reserved in heaven," (1 Peter i, 4,) 
imply that this crown is in the custody of Almighty 
God, and is therefore safe, so that no enemy can take 
it from us. Satan, with all his subtlety, can not creep 
into heaven and steal it, nor break into heaven and 
seize it. An eternal Watcher keeps guard over the 
treasure. It is reserved in heaven and is safe. Men 
often lose the reward of their labor, when that reward 
is kept by human hands. The fruit of their industry 
and care often perishes by " moth and rust," or by 
thieves, or fire, or fashionable frauds. But here the 
eternal Judge offers you security against frauds, and 
eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, is your indem- 
nity against accident. 

5. This crown is reserved in heaven "for you." 
For whom ? For the profane blasphemer? — infidel? 
No! The language is discriminative: "For yon, ivJw 



134 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



are kept by the power of God, through faith, tinto sal- 
vation!' 

This language is worse than meaningless — it is de- 
ceptive and fraudulent — if the same crown is also to 
be given to the unbeliever, the despiser of grace and 
the contemner of the cross. If all alike are to re- 
ceive eternal life and honor in the end, it is a fraud 
committed upon the humble believer to encourage 
him to patient faith and the endurance of life-long 
persecutions, self-denials, and crosses, with the promise 
of a crown of glory, which is reserved in heaven for 
such as are " kept by the power of God, through faith, 
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time," 
and that, if he "endure unto the end, he shall receive 
a crown of life." If he would reach the same result 
in any other way, all such discriminative language is 
dishonest. 

But God's Word is true, candid, infinitely sincere, 
and most fitly spoken. Hence, 

1. This promise of a crown of glory, righteousness, 
that fadeth not away, that is reserved in heaven for 
the faithful and the pure in heart, is an awful admo- 
nition and warning to the disobedient and unbeliev- 
ing. By implication they are rejected, and threatened 
with all that is involved in the loss of this crown. 

2. It is a source of eternal joy to the righteous. 
They are the "chosen," the "elect," the "beloved 
children," "not of the world," and not liable to the 
world's doom. In many things the righteous and the 
wicked seem here to be providentially treated alike. 
In many things the righteous seem even less the favor- 
ites of Heaven, as their numbers are in minority, 



ON LOVING GOD WITH ALL THE HEART 1 35 



and the Church is often in persecution and reproach. 
So it was when Peter wrote. But the true difference 
shall appear when Christ shall come "to be glorified 
in his saints," and they shall receive their crown, 
while " his enemies shall be clothed with shame." 
"Then shall ye return, and discern between the right- 
eous and the wicked ; between him that serveth God 
and him that serveth him not." Mai. iii, 18. 



XX. 

ON LOVING GOD WITH ALL THE HEART. 

" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all 
thy sotd, and with all thy might." Deut. vi, 5, 

I. The precept. 

This is the root of all graces — the law of the uni- 
verse, the sum of all privilege and blessings. 

II. Its qualifications. 

"Heart," etc., intensive words. "All." It does 
not mean, love nothing else. We must love our 
neighbor as ourselves. He who loves his father, 
loves his brother also. Your child does. 

1. It does not mean the deepest possible emotions 
always prevailing. Nature could not endure this. 
You love your child at all times ; but you are not 
always caressing him, and pressing him to your heart. 
You feel more for him when sick, or in distress. 
Love should be a principle, not a passion ; a state, not 
an ebullition of the heart. Positively it means, 



136 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2, Loving other things in God, not out of God — as 
I love my brother in reference to my father and 
mother, and the common relation we bear them. 
Love to God mingles in all affections. 

3. It means all our desires terminate in God. The 
Ohio River runs toward, and terminates in, the Mis- 
sissippi; yet kisses the pebbles, beautifies and irri- 
gates the country, and enlivens commerce on the way. 
So our affections, ever flowing after, and ultimating 
in, God, embrace our friends, and bless society on 
their way. 

III. Obligations. 

These are inferred from man's nature and relations 
to God, and from God's nature, and his relations to 
man. 

1. From man's nature. He was made for society, 
and for the society of God. 

Society with a tree, a lamb, a faithful dog, will not 
satisfy him. He will long for society with man. But 
grant him this, and is he satisfied? No. He still 
craves. And what next? He must have God. He 
wants the Father of his spirit to consort with, and 
can never rest without him. Like the hungry infant, 
whose instinct is dissatisfied till Nature supplies its 
j^roper nourishment, not knowing what it is, so sinners 
are restless without God ; yet they know not that it is 
God whom they crave, till they are enlightened by the 
Holy Spirit. 

2. Our obligation to love God is inferred from 
God's relation to man. He is, 

(1.) Lord— Sovereign. 
(2.) God — good Sovereign. 



ON LOVING GOD WITH ALL THE HEART. 137 



(3.) Thy God — a good Sovereign for thee ; suited to 
thee. 

(4.) Our oxly good — "one Lord." No other. 
IV. We ought to love him with all our hearts. 

1. He never commands less. 

2. He promises as much as he commands. 

3. It is as easy for him to produce in us the quan- 
tity {"all") as the entity (love). 

4. He loves us with all his heart. 

Father dies for his child — Christ for us. He has 
oceans, and empties all on us — we have a drop, and 
shall Ave divide it, and give half to God ? 

improvement. 

Vileness of not loving God. How shall we illus- 
trate the vileness of not loving God? 

Suppose a daughter, whose father has placed her 
in a palace-like mansion, surrounded and furnished 
with ail that could please the eye, or gratify the taste, 
and imagine her as making feast after feast, enter- 
tainment after entertainment — the neighborhood ring- 
ing with her praises, and she the admired of all cir- 
cles. But, to her entertainments, she invites every 
body but her own father'. Him she neither honors, 
nor admits to her society. Living on his munifi- 
cence, she gives him no grateful or filial recognition. 
Grieved and dishonored, he comes to her house. He 
seeks an interview, but is repelled from her door. 
He seeks again and again to regain his daughter to 
filial duty and affection, but in vain. Amiable to 
all others, she is rude to him to whom she owes 
her first human duty, and on whose bounty she 

12 



138 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



daily lives, and caresses all else. Is such a daughter 
amiable? Can she be accounted lovely? But, sin- 
ner, this bears no comparison to your treatment of 
your Heavenly Father. He has given you being, and 
made it ornate with all that decks an immortal mind ; 
but, while you seek the friendship of all besides, for 
Him, your God and Benefactor, you have no love, no 
obedience, no honor, no welcome to your heart or 
your abode ! 



XXI. 

RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR 
BROTHER. 

"Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis iv, 9. 

I. Sin of Cain. 

Murder — greatest temporal injury that can be in- 
flicted ; life is guarded by severest penalties. 

II. Aggravations of this sin. 

1. Brother — close ties — die for brother. 

2. Innocent brother — never provoked him. 

3. Younger brother, whom he was bound to protect. 

4. Pious brother, whom God approved and loved. 

5. Cain drew that brother from the altar, where 
they had sacrificed together, to the slaughter. 

6. He decoyed Abel to his death by tokens of fra- 
ternal kindness — they walked in tJie field. 

7. The dispute, which ended in Abel's death, was 
a religious dispute. 



RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY. 



139 



(Chaldee paraphrase.) John says : "And wherefore 
slew he him ? Because his own works were evil, and 
his brother's righteous." 

Cain was a deist ; Abel a believer in the doctrine 
of pardon through a Mediator. The dispute was be- 
tween deism and evangelical religion. This is ascer- 
tained from the offerings which they brought. Here 
was the first persecution. Abel was a martyr. Re- 
ligion was not to blame. Deism was the persecutor, 
and true religion the victim. So it always has been ; 
so it will be. 

But God summons Cain to account: "Where is 
Abel, thy brother?" The reply was irreverent, impu- 
dent, and a falsehood : "I know not; am I my broth- 
er's keeper ?" Yes ; thou art thy brother's keeper, 
and hence accountable for his ruin? Here is the 
great truth for our consideration this hour. Each 
man is, in an important sense, his brother's keeper, 
bound to watch over him, to look to his welfare. We 
pass, then, from the historic consideration of the text 
to its 

APPLICATION. 

1. There are two great fraternities on earth — the 
fleshly, and the spiritual. The former is universal, and 
binds the whole human family. Paul refers to it when 
he says: "We are the offspring of God;" "God has 
made of one blood all nations of men." The human 
race, in all its tribes, like waters dispersed abroad 
from one fountain, have one origin. A common par- 
entage, both human and Divine, constitutes frater- 
nity in the closer bonds of family. 



140 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Christianity creates another brotherhood among all 
who, by a new birth by the Holy Spirit, have been 
made the children of God. These fraternal relations 
oblige us to certain duties toward each other as men, 
and as Christians. 

2. The common consent of mankind confirms the 
doctrine that we are so far obligated to look to each 
other's interests as to be h olden justly accountable, to 
an extent, for each other's welfare. It is enough here 
to cite you to the common tenor of public sentiment 
in all ages ; to the general idea of human laws and 
government ; to the just principles of trade and com- 
merce ; to the genius of civilization and social order ; 
to the necessary conditions of social refinement and 
happiness ; to the benevolent affections of our nature, 
which, however much abused, are as truly a constitu- 
tional endowment as reason or free-will, and must be 
developed and refined in order to the proper culture 
and unfolding of our faculties ; to the fact that patri- 
otism, philanthropy, public spirit, and unselfishness 
are accepted as cardinal human virtues, without any 
consideration of their religious bearings. But we can 
only hint at these points, in a passing way, at the 
present time. Indeed, to be careless of the welfare 
of others is inhumanity — that is, a crime against 
humanity. 

3. That each man is bound by moral obligation to 
care for others, for all others, as he has opportunity, 
is proved from Scripture. We cite the parable of the 
Good Samaritan, and such passages as, " Look not 
every man on his own things, but every man, also, on 
the things of another;" "Bear ye one another's bur- 



RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY. 



dens ;" " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy 
heart ; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, 
and not suffer sin upon him." Lev. xix, 17. ''Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And these duties 
to our fellow, and our accountability for his wel- 
fare, lie not simply in civil matters, or matters of 
property, or things noticeable by civil law, but also in 
things pertaining to morals and to religion. 

Sin has so affected us as to blind our minds, and 
harden our hearts, to all proper regard for these 
truths. Yet they are truths. We can offend no man, 
can injure none, can ruin none, without offending, in- 
juring, ruining, a brother in the flesh, or in the spirit, 
or both. 

How do we treat our brethren of the human race? 
As Christians, how do we treat them? Let every 
man answer this to his conscience. 

Again : Men have two lives — the animal and the 
spiritual ; or, the life of the body and the life of 
the soul. Each is placed within our influence, and 
may be affected by our agency. 

Cain destroys animal life — blood, not spirit, cried 
to God from the ground. But there are agencies — 
human agencies — which contribute to destroy the life 
of the soul, and the question now is whether some of 
us are not perpetrating this deed. Are we not di- 
rectly, or indirectly, aiding or abetting the death of 
souls ? 

Sin kills the soul. Whatever, then, draws the soul 
into sin, draws it into death. We may draw the soul 
into sin in three ways: 

1. By bad example. 



142 



SKETCHES AXD SKELETONS. 



2. By temptation, 

3. By diverting it from the means of grace, as 
prayer, worship, etc. 

The life of the soul is the Holy Spirit, and what- 
ever prevents our seeking that Spirit kills us. 

As food nourishes animal life, so the ordinances of 
God's house nourish spiritual life. 

We destroy souls by countenancing their absence 
from God's house for parties, balls, and purposes of 
worldly and selfish enjoyment. 

But here another thing must be considered. We 
may acquire the guilt of murder without actually 
taking away life. If we can revive the dead, not to 
do it is murder. 

We live in the midst of the dead — as in Ezekiel's 
vision — and God has directed us to be active in re- 
storing them to life. He gives us his Word and 
Spirit to apply to them for this purpose. Like Peter 
on the da} r of Pentecost, sons and daughters must 
prophesy, and then his Spirit will be poured out 
on the multitude. " Let your light so shine that 
others ma)' see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven." 

Now, if we are not diligently using all the means 
to restore dead sinners to life, how are we not guilty 
of the ruin of their souls ? 

You may say we invade the Divine prerogative, 
Not at all. Did they invade Christ's prerogative 
when they brought sick to him to be healed ? Do 
you invade the Divine prerogative when you furnish 
bread to your family, or medicine for your sick child ? 
Our families are sick and dying from the poison of 



RELIGIOUS RESPONSIBILITY. 



143 



sin. A heavenly physician is near, and we are at no 
pains to bring our sick to him. And consider the 
circumstances of our behavior. Cain used his advan- 
tage to Abel's detriment — brotherhood and its con- 
fiding affections, the worship of God. Do we ? 
Our friends confide in us — we betray them at our 
tables, in our walks, in the sanctuary, and at God's 
altar, by being indifferent to their salvation. The 
voice of thy brother's blood ? Ah ! no — thy brother's 
spirit wrecked and blasted by our neglect. 

Am I my brother's keeper ? Yes, your brother's 
keeper. Begin, then, 

1. To keep watch and ward over Christians. 

2. Over sinners ; over your children, husbands, 
wives, parents. When you come to glory, bring a 
retinue of souls ! 

Let us endeavor to be faithful to souls to-night. 
But the excuses : 

1. Too old. 

2. Too young. 

3. Too wicked. 

4. I am moral. 

5. Not convicted. 

6. Ashamed. 

Where will excuses end? God permits you to 
come to the altar. Suppose he had forbidden you ? 
Suppose he should announce that every sinner in this 
house may come to this altar except you? How 
would you tremble at the announcement ! 

In this world, all is excitement, but the body is the 
great concern. Earth is in a constant bustle. 

In eternity, souls will be the great concern. Jesus 



144 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



came down from heaven to die for souls ; angels are 
in motion for souls ; judgment will sit for souls. 
Then our influence for souls ! — What shall it be 
found to have been? What shall we answer when 
God shall say, " Where is thy brother ?" 

XXII. 

CHRISTIAN DECISION. 

" Be it knozvn unto thee, King, that we will not serz'e thy Gods, nor 
•worship the golden image which thou hast set tip." Daniel iii, 1 8. 

Brief historic introduction. 

I. The firmness of their decision. 

This is shown by a consideration of the plausible 
excuses for compliance with the king's decree, which 
might have been urged. 

1. They were under obligations to NebncJiadnezzar. 
As exiles he had treated them with great honor. 

2. It was the law of tJie land. 

3. All complied in that vast assembly but them- 
selves. 

4. They must comply or lose their religions in- 
fluence and their office. 

5. They were officers of government. It would be 
an example of rebellion in them ! 

6. They were requested to bow down once — not con- 
tinue idolaters. 

7. Their own people, the yews, baptized as God's 
people, seem to have yielded ; nay, the Jews were 



CHRISTIAN DECISION. 



145 



often idolaters at home — and must they, at the hazard 
of life, go against both Babylon and Jerusalem ? 
Now let us consider their conduct : 

1. They do not even deliberate. "We are not care- 
ful to answer thee," that is, we are not straitened for 
an answer, our answer is ready. 

2. They study no evasion. 

3. They ask no delay. 

4. They use no compliments. Simply respectful. 
Do not say, " O King, live forever." So Daniel spoke 
before Darius, though the king had cast him into a 
den of lions. 

5. They make known to him that in 110 event will 
they worship the idol. God will deliver, but if not 
they will not comply. 

II. The disinterestedness of this decision. 
They are regardless of consequences, loss of office, 

of royal favor, of popular consideration ; nay, abso- 
lute disgrace, torture, and death are nothing. They 
are ready for all. 

III. The basis of this decision. 

1. FaitJi in God. Implying, first, God is able to de- 
liver ; and, second, will deliver ; or, God's power and 
God's purpose. 

2. Love of truth. " If not, know, O King, we will 
not fall down," etc. They were as ready to die as to 
live for the truth. - So Paul, Phil, i, 20. 

IV. Consequences of this decision. 

1. It cost them, in the end, no loss. Their honor, 
fame, office, and influence to do good, were not only 
preserved, but immeasurably increased. 

2. It increased their faith in God. 

i3 



i 4 5 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



3. It brought them a peculiar manifestation of God's 
favor. " The form of the fourth," etc. 

4. It cast shame on idols and idolaters. 

5. It vindicated the true God. It drew forth a con- 
fession and a public decree from the king in honor 
of Jehovah. Verses 28, 29. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. God can make persecution easy for us. 

2. He can make persecution minister grace to us. 
" Blessed is the man that endureth temptation 

" Behold ! happy is the man whom God correcteth." 

3. We may see why Paul gloried in tribulation. 

4. No man can be a faithful minister without de- 
cision. 

5. No man can have Christian decision without holi- 
ness of heart ; a worldly mind will always betray him. 

6. Early religious habits are of great value. Look 
at their history. 

7. If we would be faithful in great things we must 
be faithful in little things. These children refused 
the king's meat, now they can scorn his image and 
his furnace. 

8. This is an age of idolatry. We never needed 
religious decision more than now ; not to breast the 
rage of persecution, but to stem the tide of flattery, 
vanity, and worldly prosperity. Are we equal to the 
calls of the times ? Who will stand firm for Christ ? 
We need decision against the spirit of levity, the 
spirit of sloth, the spirit of gain, the spirit of pride, 
the spirit of envy, the spirit of detraction, the spirit 
of self-dependence, the spirit of self-indulgence. 



THE PURE IN HEART. 



147 



We must be steadfast, immovable. "Young men 
exhort to be sober minded;" "let the deacons be 
grave." Christian ministers are stars — night reveals 
their brilliancy ; so we in this night of affliction. 

For angels God acted, for man suffered. We are 
the disciples of a suffering Christ. Never do Chris- 
tian virtues appear to such advantage as in persecu- 
tion, in afflictions, under severe trials. Then is the 
golden opportunity to glorify God. 



XXIII. 

THE PURE IN HEART. 

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matt, v, 8. 

I. What is purity of heart ? 
II. Can it be attained in this life ? 

III. The felicity of this state. 

We inquire, I. What is purity of heart ? 

It is a simple, unmixed state of the affections. It 
is repentance without obduracy, not a fusion. It is 
faith without unbelief; love without malice; meek- 
ness without anger ; humility without pride ; charity 
without selfishness ; spiritual mindedness without 
worldliness or sensuality. It is not perfect humanity 
as to the body, mind, or affections, as measured by 
the absolute, or immutable law, but only as measured 
by the law of love, " the law of the spirit of life in 
Christ Jesus." 

II. Can such purity be attained in this life? 



148 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Some things would lead us to think it can not. 

1. Our guilt is so fearful. 

2. Our depravity is so deep and entire. 

3. The law is so broad and rigorous. 

4. Our habits are so confirmed. 

5. Our associations are so adverse. 

6. Our great adversary is so hostile and formidable. 
He cares not how many of us join the Church if he 
can prevent our obtaining purity of heart — that " holi- 
ness without which no man," etc. 

But some other things must be set over against 
these, which lead us to believe we may obtain this 
purity in this life : 

1. The atonement against guilt: "Though your 
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow," etc. 

2. The Holy Spirit against depravity: "I will 
sprinkle clean water upon you," etc. 

3. Promises to meet the law: "The Lord thy God 
will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, 
to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, that thou mayest live." Deut. xxx, 6. 

4. The Captain of our salvation against our foes, 
the world, the flesh, and the devil — O, with such a 
Prophet, Priest, and King we may hope. He com- 
mands, promises, and " will do it." Nay, he threatens, 
" without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." 

III. The felicity of this state. 

I. It is of itself blessed. The state is "happy." 
Impurity is painful ; even if our persons or our dwell- 
ings are impure or filthy we are uneasy. But O ! to 
have impurity in our hearts. and consciences — in the 
very center of our being ! — the holy of holies of our 



THE PURE IN HEART. 



1 49 



natures ! No wonder the " wicked are like the troubled 
sea." 

2. This state has a bliss of reward, or retribution, 
" They shall see God "—-which means, first, that God 
shall dwell in them here in a peculiar and glorious 
manner ; can 't keep him out of a pure heart, temples 
of the Holy Ghost ; be filled with all the fullness of 
God ; all things full of God. Second, see him, en- 
joy him, and be like him in heaven. " Seeing God " 
is the common formula for enjoying his eternal bless- 
edness. See John iii, 3 ; 1 John iii, 2. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

Should we doubt whether we can obtain this purity, 
let us, 

1. Consider that Satan corrupted us and Christ re- 
stores us. 

2. That Satan did briefly — in a day — and that Christ 
needs not a longer time to undo than Satan did to do. 
Can not Christ make alive as shortly as Satan could 
kill ? 

3. Christ has done more to restore than Satan did 
to destroy. Christ died — Satan tempted. 

4. Christ came into the world on purpose to de- 
stroy the work of the devil. 1 John iii, 8 ; Hebrews 
ii, 14. 

5. See the power and mercy of Christ in his works 
of healing. How willing he is ! "All manner of dis- 
eases." 

Observe, especially, four things : 

1. Hunger and thirst after it ; cultivate an appetite. 

2. Believe the promises, exceeding great and pre- 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



cious ; "that we might be partakers of the Divine 
Nature " he that believeth shall be saved." 

3. Confess — "with the heart man believeth unto 
righteousness ; with the mouth confession is made 
unto salvation." 

It is said apostles never confessed perfect love. 
Answer. Neither do they direct us to believe for per- 
fect love, but they tell us to believe for salvation, 
and perfect love is embraced in salvation. They tell 
us confession is made unto salvation, and so it is 
made of perfect love and must be. 

Ye are my witnesses. Of what ? that God brought 
us out of Egypt, but not that he brought us into 
Canaan ? 

Inconsistency of not being pure in heart. Suppose 
angels who never visited our world were to hear that 
God had sons and daughters here. On their first 
visit what would they expect ? 

Finally. The sacrament of the Lord's-Supper, of 
which we this day partake, is a sanctifying sacrament. 
Hunger and thirst for purity, and expect it to-day. 
Behold him bleeding upon the cross for your sanctifi- 
cation. Hear him praying "that you all might be 
one," as the Father and the Son are one. 

May He this day make manifest to our deepest 
consciousness the import of his own words : " My 
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood 
dwelleth in me, and I in him." 



THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES. 



XXIV. 

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES. 

" I am the vine, ye are the branches." John xv, 5. 

The theme of this discourse is, the unity of Christ 
and his disciples. 

I. The nature of this unity. 
II. Its mode. 
III. Its fruits. 
I. As to its nature, it is, 

1. A union of substance. Vine and branch are 
one in substance. Christ takes our nature, and im- 
parts his. (Heb. ii, and I Peter i, 4.) Whereby, 

2. A unity of name — Christ, Christian. The name, 
or profession, gives the Christian the outward form 
and semblance of Christ. By the form and semblance 
of the branch, we identify the species of tree or 
vine to which it belongs. So the profession of the 
Christian. 

3. Unity of office. The branch has the same or- 
gans and functions of the tree, and serves the same 
end. "The works that I do, shall ye do also." We 
bear "the fruits of the Spirit." 

4. Unity of life. "Your life is hid with Christ in 
God;" "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." 

5. The Christian is one with Christ in enjoyment, 
suffering's, temptations, and rewards. 

II. Mode of this unity. 

We may describe it as being ingrafted into Christ, 
and receiving a new life from him. 



152 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



1. The process of ingrafting implies a wotinding, 
and shaping, both of the stock and the scion. 

Christ, the stock, is thus wounded, and ready to re- 
ceive the scion. The scion, the sinner's heart, must 
be wounded by repentance, and shaped by contrition. 

2. Next, these wounded parts must be brought into 
close conjunction — the scion inserted into the stock. 

This is done by faith, which joins us to Christ. 

3. Next, these conjoined parts must be grown into 
one limb, so that the scion drinks up the juices of the 
stock. This is by the Holy Spirit given to the be- 
liever, and imparting to him the mind of Christ. 

III. The fruits of this oxexess. 

1. Purifying and cultivation by God. 

2. Growth in grace. "What it may bring." 

3. Great fruitful n ess. 

4. Communion with God, and answer to prayer. 

5. Glorifying the Husbandman. 

6. Being loved by Jesus as Jesus is by Father. 

7. Joy full and Divine. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. We see why some strive in vain to reform. 
Sinners can change their vices, but can 't reform, 
can 't cure, them — severed branch can 't bear. 

2. W T e can see why some do not grow in grace. 
They try to bear fruit without strengthening their 
union with Christ. Fruit of the vine is in the living 
branches. 

3. This subject illustrates Christian perfection, and 
growth in it. Christian perfection is perfect union 
with Christ, and having the whole branches filled with 



THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES. 



153 



the juices of the Spirit. Can a branch, half dead, 
grow much ? 

4. This subject inculcates charity ; branch inter- 
twines branch, and both unite in, and live by, the 
same stock. 

5. It shows our dependence on God. We must 
draw from Him, not men. 

6. This subject admonishes backsliders and apos- 
tates. Judas ! Cast forth as a branch, and withered. 
Cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 

Do we bear fruit ? How do we look as a part of 
Christ ? branches of Christ ? a living part of Christ ? 

7. We see how we may persevere. By the obedi- 
ence of faith — not legal obedience, but of faith. "If 
ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in me." 

8. We see why the Church lives in persecution, etc. 
A living Church can not be destroyed, because its 

life is from Christ, not the world. Men must destroy 
the vine if they would destroy the branches. The 
life of the vine will throw out new branches, and per- 
secution shall not quench its life-producing vigor. 
Nothing can destroy the Church but separation from 
Christ. 



154 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXV. 

WORKS OF MERCY IN THE JUDGMENT. 

" Whe7i the Son of Man shall come in his glory, aitd all the holy 
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory ; and before 
him shall be gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them one from 
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats ; arid he shall 
set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left," etc. Matthew 
xxv, 31-36. 

I. The Judgment will call in question our 
actions. "Did it." 

II. Rewards will follow positive, not negative, 
virtues. They will be granted to those who have 
done good, not to those who have only done no harm. 

III. Rewards will be distributed to those who 

HAVE SHOWN MERCY, NOT JUSTICE MERELY. " Ye gave 

me ;" "Sick and in prison, and ye ministered to me." 

IV. In the judgment, our actions will be viewed 
in relation to God, and as bearing on his rights. 
"Ye have done it unto me;" "Cup of cold water in 
the name of a disciple!' 

V. The judgment will unfold to us an intimate 
relation of Christ to mankind. He takes sym- 
pathy with our nature. What is done to humanity 
in his name is done to him. 

VI. To some, Christ will be a royal benefac- 
tor. "King will say come" etc. 

VII. To others, an avenger. "Then shall he say 
to them on his left hand, Depart," etc. 

VIII. The rule of royal action will be sought in 



WORKS OF MERCY IN THE JUDGMENT. 1 5 5 



our history. To the benefactors of their race, who 
have been so for Christ's sake, he will be a benefactor. 

IX. The Day of Judgment will reveal to the 
pious their treasures. " Lay not tip," etc. They 
obeyed the command, " Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures upon earth ; . . but lay up for yourselves 
treasures in heaven." They believed the promise, 
" Great is your reward in heaven." Now they see it. 

X. It reveals also to the unmerciful theirs. 
" He shall have judgment without mercy who hath 
shown no mercy ;" " As he delighted not in blessing, 
so shall it be far from him." 

inference. 

How excellent is charity ! It is the fruit of faith 
and hope. 

It is the most blissful of all graces. Faith sees, 
hope expects, but charity takes and enjoys. 

Faith and hope are only useful to ourselves, but 
charity is good for others. 

Faith and hope die, but charity never faileth. This 
is one reason why it so regarded in the judgment. 
The candidate for heaven has no farther use for faith 
and hope, but charity is needed in heaven ; and the 
question will be important, Has he this qualification 
for glory ? 

Charity is the most difficult to cultivate. All pas- 
sions war against it ; it has general and special pleas. 

Mercy is the highest style of charity. It is so in 
God — it is so in man. It was especially thus mani- 
fested in man's behalf. We are the only beings in 
the universe that can plead, hope for, or receive it. We 



i 5 6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



can plead for nothing else. Every sermon, prayer, 
song, is of mercy. And shall we withhold mercy from 
each other? God forbid! 

EXCUSES. 

- I. "I know none who are needy." 

Ans. — Have you sought them ? Do you expect to 
find them at the theater? in the ball-room ? Seek, 
and you will find them. You have not, like Jesus, to 
forsake your native world to find them. Like the 
priest and the Levite, you find them in your way. 
Benevolent societies will be your almoners. 

2. " You have nothing to give." Then they need to 
give to you. Few on earth but should give or receive. 
The line between is narrow ; the woman with two 
mites could not walk on it. You have something 
for the toy-shop — -pride, appetite. 

3. " You are afraid of giving to the unworthy" 
You fear ! Are you worthy ? How conscientious ! 
Suppose Christ had acted on this principle toward 
you ? 

4. " You do 71 1 believe in works." Well, then, show 
your faith to-day. 

5. Some of you do believe in works. You love a 
scanty supply of them. They would take you but a 
brief way toward heaven. Think of the " balances " — 
"found wanting." 

6. "You have given enough." How much? Do 
you agree that God shall do as you do, stop giving? 
Mercy should be constant as the beating of the heart, 
like the atmosphere, giving vitality to the wretched 
at every breath — ever present, genial, and free. 



WORKS OF MERCY IN THE JUDGMENT. 



157 



" But I give by balls, theaters, and the like." Let 
your charity be charity in aim and spirit as well as 
deed. Do not abhor the thing, and treat it as the 
sick do a bitter pill, rolling it in sweetmeats lest it 
nauseate them — bribing their selfish appetites to lib- 
erality, and making Satan their almoner in their char- 
ities to Jesus. 

7. Remember mercy does what the miracles of 
Jesus did while on earth. It breaks bread, and heals 
sickness, and strengthens impotency, and is a minis- 
try of miraculous cures and comforts to all states of 
weakness and sorrow. With what delights must 
heavenly beings look down on one who, like Jesus, 
and for his sake, becomes a minister of aid to the 
suffering: 

Whose holy charity, with beams divine, 

Like suns in heaven, with grace diffusive shine, 

Pours on the fainting poor a cheering light, 

Like northern lusters o'er the vault of night ; 

The spirits of the good, who bend from high, 

Wide o'er these earthly scenes their partial eye. 

Mistake this mortal for an angel form, 

And ask what seraph binds those hearts forlorn. 

The Savior hears, and to the inquiring train, 

Points out the cross, and says, " I have not died in vain." 



158 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXVI. 

THE LAW OF LIBERTY. 

"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth there- 
in, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall 
be blest in his deed.' 1 '' James i, 25. 

I. God's law may be considered in a twofold 

LIGHT. 

1. The moral law, or, 

2. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. 

As to the first, conformity to it is either preceptive 
or punitive. We can be conformed to it only ptmi- 
tively, not preceptively. For, 

1. We have all sinned, and broken its precept. It 
is too late for us, therefore, to conform to it pre- 
ceptively, that it should become to us a law of 
liberty. 

2. Neither can we make satisfaction to the law for 
our offenses. 

3. Penal conformity to the law is hopeless punish- 
ment. Punishment can not restore innocency, or 
make us just. The law, therefore, to us is a law 
of death. 

As to the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
we may be conformed to it, because, 

1. Past sins are no hinderance to that conformity. 
This law is a law of liberty from past offenses, of par- 
don through Jesus' death. 

2. It is a law of liberty from sinful affections — a 
law of cleansing to the soul. 



THE LA W OF LIBERTY. 



159 



3. It is a law of liberty from the sinfulness of hu- 
man weakness and imperfection. 

4. It is a law of liberty from fear — the fear of 
death — all tormenting fear. Millions, " through fear 
of death, are all their life-time subject to bondage." 
Heb. ii, 15. 

5. It is a law of liberty from the fear of man, or 
sinful admiration of the creature. " If I yet pleased 
men, I should not be the servant of Jesus Christ." 
Gal. i, 10. 

6. Summarily, it is a law of life, divine life, the life 
of Christ. Blessed liberty ! This is holiness. 

7. The "law of liberty" is not the moral law, but 
is a provision of government for sinners, comprehend- 
ing both the moral law, in its preceptive claims, and 
the offer of pardon, sanctification, and eternal life, 
through the satisfaction of Christ. All moral law to 
man is now merged in the Gospel scheme, which pro- 
vides for the sanctity and unchangeable authority of 
its precept in the forgiveness of sin for the penitent 
believer in Christ, and the certain execution of the 
penalty on all who reject Christ. This "law of lib- 
erty," then, is God's perfect moral law, sustained in 
harmony with a provision for the perfect liberty of 
man from all spiritual bondage : " If the Son shall 
make you free, ye shall be free indeed." There is no 
liberty without law, and the more perfect the law, the 
more perfect the freedom resulting from entire con- 
formity to it. " Great is the Mystery of Godliness." 

II. The means of obtaining this liberty which 

THE LAW PROPOSES. 

I. Study the law of liberty. "Whoso iooketh into 



i6o 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



the perfect law of liberty." The first step toward 
obedience is knowledge of the law, knowledge of duty. 
We should " search the Scriptures ;" pray, " what wilt 
thou have me to do ;" " open thou mine eyes to be- 
hold wondrous things out of thy law;" "make thy 
way plain before my face;" "lead me in a plain 
path." 

2. A deep meditation of it. We should know the 
letter and form of the law, and its spiritual import : 
"I meditate on all thy precepts," says the Psalmist. 
The words "look into" in the text, denote special at- 
tention, close inspection. 

3. A persevering regard for it. The text says, 
"continueth therein." 

4. A devout remembrance of it. "Not a forgetful 
hearer;" "we ought to give the more earnest heed 
to the things which we have heard, lest at any time 
we let them slip." Knowledge forgotten is knowl- 
edge lost — lost during the time of forgetfulness. If 
you lose a dollar it is unavailable for any use while 
lost, and you can not honestly count it in your as- 
sets. So with knowledge ; so with each particular 
idea. 

5. A practical regard for it. "A doer of the work," 
says James. 

The folly of supposing knowledge will save us with- 
out practice, outward reverence for the preaching of 
the Gospel without obedience to its claims, is illus- 
trated by our Lord, Matthew vii, 24-27. And ob- 
serve James pronounces the "blessing" on the "doer," 
not the mere " hearer." " This man shall be blessed 
in his deed? 



THE LA W OF LIBERTY. 



161 



IMPROVEMENT. 

Here is a test of Christian character. As such let 
us use it. Let each ask himself, Am I a Christian ? 

1. Have I liberty from guilt by pardon, from defile- 
ment by cleansing, from fear by faith and love, from 
thralldom to the creature by the glorious power of the 
Creator, from the inward death of sin by the life of 
God ? Do I look into the Gospel ? Do I meditate 
and continue therein ? Do I practice the Word ? 

2. This test is one of feeling and experience. The 
character of the text is to be " blessed," not when he 
gets to heaven, not in a future world merely, but 
" blessed in his deed',' or as the margin reads, " in his 
doing? He is to be blessed now, while doing, and in 
doing. And this blessedness is a Divine happiness. 
Not the joy of worldly prosperity. Not such as world- 
lings feel. It comes from God. It is of the nature 
of his love, his joy, his peace shed abroad in our souls. 

Do you feel that you are blessed, happy, hour by 
hour ? Does " the peace of God, which passeth all 
understanding, keep your hearts and minds ?" Have 
any of us experienced that this is a "perfect law of 
liberty?" 

We did experience that, out of Christ, and under 
sin, the moral law which in itself is "holy, just, and 
good," became to us a law of sin and death. It be- 
came a law- of sin because by it we obtained the 
knowledge of sin, and that " sin, by the command- 
ment, might become exceeding sinful. Rom. vii, 13. 
It became a law of death to us, because "sin, taking 
occasion by the commandment, deceived us, and by 

14 



1 62 SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 

it slew us." "And the commandment which was or- 
dained to life we lound to be unto death." Rom. vii, 
10, II. 

This was our dreadful experience as sinners. But 
have we found by a blessed experience the " perfect 
law of liberty ?" Can we this day indorse the strong 
language of James, and bless God for perfect liberty, 
now achieved under a perfect law ? " He that hath 
received his testimony hath set to his seal that God 
is true." It is true. Precious freedom! Perfect 
liberty ! 

" Ye slaves of sin and hell, 
Your liberty receive ; 
And safe in Jesus dwell, 
And blest in Jesus live." 

XXVII. 
JESUS' WITNESSES. 

"Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord.'''' Isaiah xliii, 10. 
" Ye are my witnesses of these things." Luke xxiv, 48. 

The proposition we propose to discuss is this : The 
testimony of the pious proves the reality of Christian 
experie?ice. Christian experience is conviction, con- 
version, and sanctification by the Holy Ghost. 

We will call attention, 

I. TO THE TESTIMONY. 
II. To THE WITNESSES. 

I. As to the testimony, it is, first, written, and, 
second, unwritten. 



JESUS' WITNESSES. 



163 



Written testimony is of two kinds: 

1. Record. 

2. Not of record. 

Record testimony is made up of the recitals of 
Christian experience in the Bible. We call it record, 

(1.) Because it is made up under the inspection of 
the Supreme Judge. 

(2.) Because all theologians in Christendom — ex- 
cept in the prophetic Babylon— refer to it as the ulti- 
mate judge in controversies. 

Its details of the experience of Abraham, Moses, 
David, Paul, and the beloved disciple, are record testi- 
mony of Christian experience. 

Written testimony, not of record, are such biogra- 
phies as those of Newton, Gardiner, Rochester, Wes- 
ley, Fletcher, Benson, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. 
Ramsey, Mrs. Graham, etc. Parole testimony is such 
as is given in our class-meetings, love-feasts, and by 
the fireside, or in the street, or wherever the pious 
talk of their own experience. 

II. The witnesses. 

They are, first, competent, and, second, credible. 
Observe the difference between competent and 
credible. They are not incompetent, 

1. For crime. 

2. For interest. 

3. For ignorance. 

Second. They are credible on account of, 

1. Their number. 

2. Their variety of clime, habit, education, etc. 

3. Their harmony. Differences on other points, as 
of sects, etc., are lost here. 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



4. Their perseverance. Note their sufferings — the 
martyrs, confessors, etc. 

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 

1. Your witnesses are ignorant. So much the bet- 
ter; they are not likely to invent, or carry out, an im- 
position. But they are not ignorant of the facts of 
which they testify — they speak experience. 

2. They are interested partisans. Yes, on your side. 
If Christianity is not true, their interest is to oppose 
it. As it is, they suffer that they may give testimony 
in its favor. So Paul, Gardiner, etc. 

3. There are opposing witnesses. No, not one. Such 
men as Hume, Hobbes, and Paine, have argued, and 
acted the part of corrupt advocates but have not tes- 
tified. They are not entitled to the rank and credit 
of witnesses. 

4. There are retractive witnesses. Yes, there are 
men who have known Christ and his doctrines — have 
been regenerated, and even sanctified, and, having 
witnessed for Christ, have turned and given testimony 
against him. But what is retractive testimony ? Re- 
tractive testimony is perjured testimony. These are 
your witnesses, not ours. 

5. Your witnesses are not sworn. No, but they tes- 
tify in death, and this, in law, is solemn as an oath, 
and as credible. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. We must testify. Christians must ; ministers 
must. Acts i, 8, " Ye shall receive power," that is, to 
be witnesses ; Acts v, 32, " Ye are his witnesses, and 



JESUS' WITNESSES. 



165 



so also is the Holy Ghost;" Luke, xxiv, 48, " Ye are 
his witnesses of these things," "and behold I send 
the promise of the Father upon you." In all these 
cases, the Holy Spirit seems especially promised in 
regard to our fidelity as witnesses for Christ. Re- 
member, the witness is sworn to tell the truth — the 
whole truth. 

2. We must live holy that our testimony may be 
believed. But a holy life will never do in place of 
testimony. With the motith, confession is made unto 
salvation. Paul's holy life would have done nothing 
for Christ if he had not testified about conversion. 
Stephen's happy death would not have been traced to 
his religion but that he testified, "I see heaven opened, 
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of 
God." 

3. Christian testimony is a power to conquer our 
enemies. "And they overcame by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." There- 
fore, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be 
ready always to give an answer to every man that 
asketh a reason of the hope that is in you, with 
meekness and fear." 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXVIII. 

BLESSEDNESS OF HUNGERING AND THIRSTING 
AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

" Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for 
they shall be filled:' Matthew v, 6. 

I. What is righteousness ? 
II. The pursuit of righteousness. 
III. The fruition of righteousness. 

I. What is righteousness ? 
It consists of two branches, justification and sancti- 
fication. 

1. Justification is the removal of guilt. Sinners 
are condemned now ; they must have pardon or death. 

2. The removal of corruption. Man's affections are 
defiled. Sanctification is the process by which they 
are made free and clean. 

We should carefully distinguish between justifi- 
cation and sanctification. Justification is a work 
wrought for us, and changes our relation to God. 
Sanctification is a work wrought in us. We must 
have both, or never see God. Regeneration, which 
accompanies justification, is sanctification begun. 
"Entire sanctification" is the completion of this work ; 
yet they are distinct. 

II. The pursuit of righteousness. 

" Hunger and thirst." This implies that righteous- 
ness appears very sweet and desirable, like food to the 
hungry, or water to the thirsty, and that the soul 
needs it now. 



HUNGERING AND THIRSTING. 



It implies that the desire for it rises to a height 
of great vehemence, so that the soul seems unable 
to endure without it. Hunger and thirst are unlike 
all other appetites — they must be gratified in order 
to existence. 

It implies that this vehement desire drives the 
longing soul to set about every means of acquiring 
it, and make that its all-absorbing business, day and 
night. 

Let us seek examples in both branches of right- 
eousness. 

1. A sinner, careless and reckless, is, all at once, 
observed to change his deportment. He grows more 
and more anxious, till at last a change comes over 
him in an agony of desire. He cries, "Give me 
pardon or I die!" Just then, when he hungers and 
thirsts, pardon comes. 

2. A sober Christian, well-behaved, is found solemn 
and anxious. Watch him ; he becomes more and 
more anxious, till his soul is again in a struggle — not 
for pardon, he has it ; but he is " weary of life through 
inbred sin," and cries out, 

" 'T is worse than death my God to love, 
And not my God alone." 

After thus struggling, another change comes. As 
a general rule, the change comes just in the struggle 
itself, when the soul hungers and thirsts after right- 
eousness — the righteousness of entire sanctification. 

III. The fruition of righteousness. 

Go to the first one just risen from the altar, where 
in an agony, as of death, he had struggled, and ask, 
What did you seek ? Pardon. Have you found it ? 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



Yes, How many of your sins are pardoned? All. 
All! Dare you believe it? Yes; all. "As far as 
the east is from the west, so far hath he separated my 
sins from me." 

Then he is filled ; he can have no more of pardon. 
Gabriel is not more free from guilt than he. "There 
is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are 
in Christ Jesus." He hungered for pardon, and is 
filled with the righteousness of pardon. Did one sin 
remain unpardoned, he would not be filled. 

Go to the sanctified — ask him what he hungered 
and thirsted for ? To be holy in heart. Have you re- 
ceived it ? Yes. How far have you received it ? 
The Lord has cleansed me "from all my filthiness, 
and from all my idols;" "He has cleansed me from 
all unrighteousness." He hungered and thirsted for 
holiness, and is filled. If one pollution remained un- 
washed away, he would not be filled with the right- 
eousness of purity. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. How does this agree with being pardoned and 
cleansed by faith alone? Mr. Wesley says of faith, 
etc., "When the soul hungers, and thirsts, and strives, 
God is pleased to work faith, or enables us to be- 
lieve." So it is, indeed, by faith alone sought as above. 

2. You may say, I desire these blessings, but how 
can I hunger and thirst? 

Ans. First — Do not impair your appetite by your 
reading, company, pursuits, or pleasures. 

Second— Seek an appetite by all the means of 
grace. The sick take medicine for an appetite; 



HUNGERING AND THIRSTING. 



169 



did they take poison every day, could they expect 
appetite ? 

3. Finally — Blessed, happy are they ; for he who is 
filled with righteousness is filled with peace, and God, 
and heaven. Death has no terrors for him ; the judg- 
ment and eternity are his soul's choice delights. 

Behold the culprit on the gallows. Sentence has 
been pronounced — the rope is adjusted — the last 
words are spoken — the drop is ready. Just then a 
horseman is seen in the distance, coming at his ut- 
most speed. Every eye is turned in that direction. 
As the flying messenger approaches, a paper is seen 
in his uplifted hand, and the sound of pardon — par- 
don — pardon, rings out on the air — the missile is 
thrown into the hands of the officer — the criminal 
goes free ; as free in the eyes of the law as though 
he had never offended. Imagine his joy ! 

But did the Governor ever invite such a one to 
feast with his most honored guests? Yea, more; 
take him to his heart, adopt him into his family, and 
make him heir with his children ? All this, and 
more, the Savior does for those whom he pardons 
and sanctifies. 

The power of our ministry must be sought in con- 
nection with this state, namely, purity of heart. The 
movements of the steamer do not depend on her 
shapely form and splendid finish, on the furniture of 
her halls, and the showy decorations of her ample 
saloons. You must go below, out of sight of all these 
things, to inspect the wonderful machinery, whose 
working drives her against the wind, and tide, and 
rushing current, with a speed almost miraculous. So 

*5 



170 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



with our ministry. Its power is not in giant intel- 
lect, trained to dialectic rules, and polished by severest 
culture. These, indeed, may become instruments of 
great power. But the heart is the engine ; the Holy 
Ghost kindles the fire which sets to work the ma- 
chinery of all human faculties and powers in the 
highest stage of human culture. 



XXIX. 

ALMOST PERSUADED TO BE A CHRISTIAN. 

"Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" Acts xxvi, 28. 

I. We premise what it is to be a Christian. 

1. To think like Christ — doctrines. 

2. To feel like Christ — experience. 

3. To act like Christ — precepts. 

II. What must be the consequence of reaching, 
and then receding from, the moral ground here in- 
dicated — "Almost persuaded," etc. 

1. Hardening the heart. He resisted feeling as 
well as light. Almost persuaded — difference between 
persuasion and conviction. Every act of resistance of 
right feeling and right conviction hardens the heart. 

2. The loss of spiritual Divine influence — " Grieve 
not the Spirit r 

This is a double damage. While the heart has in- 
creased the power of resistance, the force is dimin- 
ished by which that resistance is to be overcome — 



ALMOST PERSUADED TO BE A CHRISTIAN. I /I 

like increasing the load and weakening the draft 
power. 

3. Possibility of losing the visits of the Spirit thus 
grieved. Last call — " My Spirit shall not always 
strive with man." 

4. Accumulating guilt. This is the greatest sin. 
Felix and Agrippa, wicked as they were, now com- 
mitted their most aggravated offenses. " To him that 
knovveth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is 
sin ;" " this is condemnation, that light has come into 
the world, and men choose darkness rather than 
light ;" " if I had not come and spoken to them, they 
had not had sin, but now," etc. 

5. Aggravating future miseries. The rule of judg- 
ment is to "require according to what a man hath." 
The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift of God. Awakened 
sinners have this — you all have it. Your account- 
ability is measured accordingly. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. Such cases as this of Agrippa are now mul- 
tiplied. Men are now commonly, and especially in 
revivals, brought to the point of being almost per- 
suaded. 

2. Decision for Christ is the first and most difficult 
step toward being a Christian. 

Convictions, feelings, wishes avail nothing, till the 
mind is decided. The will must take firm stand for 
Christ. Here true repentance begins. This is the 
first step to heaven. Convictions, awakened feelings, 
religious anxiety and longings, all work only a deeper 
condemnation till the will decides for Christ. After 



172 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



that they work to help the soul in its struggles into 
new life. 

3. Conviction is a critical state. In its legal sense 
it is the finding guilty upon competent testimony 
after due process of trial. It always supposes condem- 
nation, which is the sentence of the law formally pro- 
nounced ; and this leaves but one step further to be 
taken — execution. Every convicted sinner is already 
condemned, under arrest, waiting the hour of execu- 
tion. The moments of deferred justice are moments 
of mercy, intercession, and offered pardon. God waits 
only to know if you accept. 

4. Christians should be in earnest for awakened 
men. See Paul's ardor, verse 29, "And of some have 
compassion, making a difference ; others save with 
fear, pulling them out of the fire," etc. 

5. What memories will be the property of lost souls 
who were almost persuaded, and then, with Agrippa, 
went to hell ! O that word almost will bite like a 
serpent and sting like an adder ! A little more and 
I should have been saved ! A little more ! 

6. Why are we not Christians ? Why was not 
Agrippa ? 

(1.) Pride of intellect, as to doctrines. 
(2.) Opposition of taste, as to feelings. 
(3.) Society ! depravity, and habits as to conversa- 
tion and conduct. 

7. We see the work of ministers — to get men to 
be like Christ — two things, preacJiing and example ; 
" Follow me as I follow Christ." 

Paul preached to Felix, and now to Festus and 
Agrippa, and appealed to his experience. Agrippa 



THE WA Y OF PERDITION. 



173 



unwittingly discovers to us the real aim and intention 
of Paul's discourse. Not so much to defend himself 
as to bring his auditors to Christ. Felix, on a former 
occasion, had "trembled" before this prisoner of the 
Lord, and now Agrippa is almost brought to the con- 
fession of Christianity, despite his Jewish pride and 
prejudice. Here is an example of fidelity as a Chris- 
tian minister. Paul never loses sight of souls. His 
own liberty, rights, life, all are secondary to the great 
object of his ministry, to bring souls to Christ. 



XXX. 

THE WAY OF PERDITION. 

"And the Serpent said tcnto the woman, ye shall not surely die ; for 
God doth knozv that in the day that ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be 
opeiied ; and ye shall be as gods, knozving good and evil. And when the 
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the 
eyes, and a tree to be desit-ed to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof 
and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat.'''' Gen. 
iii, 4-6. 

The way of perdition is here unfolded. This 
account is historical and admonitory, not mythical or 
allegorical. A real man and woman, in a real para- 
dise ; a real tempter ; a real law; a real disobedience; 
a real covenant broken, and a real state of innocency 
forfeited, followed by real consequences of misery and 
death to the world. 

We view it now only in the light of a true illustra- 
tion of the way in which men fall into temptation. 



174 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



1. Listening to Satan. "The Serpent said." He 
reasoned and she listened. 

2. Yielding to the gratification of the senses. 
"The woman saw that the tree was good for food, 
and pleasant to the eyes!\ Here was gratification of 
the "lust of the eye" and the physical taste. Appe- 
tite is tempted. Temptation is always suited to our 
tastes and inclinations, so that by being led by these, 
unwarily, too far, we fall into the snare of the devil 
and commit sin. 

3. By yielding to ambition. Ambition is always 
selfish, and therefore always sinful. It is the desire 
of honor or power for selfish ends, not for the glory 
of God. Eve was tempted to seek honor and rank 
through the pathway of knowledge. The tempter 
said, " In the day that ye eat thereof your eyes shall 
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good 
and evil." And she believed it. The desire of knowl- 
edge is, in itself, right and salutary, being implanted 
in the nature of all intelligent beings by the Creator. 
Here was a channel of temptation to a holy soul ; but 
in the stimulated desire of knowledge she lost sight of 
the Divine command, and saw not the snare of Satan. 

The words "ye shall be as gods" may mean, "ye 
shall be like God," your Creator, or "you shall be 
like the angels" for the same word is applied to the 
angels in Psalm viii, 5, "Thou hast made him [man] 
a little lower than the a?igels." Eve had knowledge 
of her Creator, and of angels, and might desire to be 
like them in knowledge. But had she desired first 
to be like them in holiness, and remembered that 
obedience was the path to elevation, she would have 



THE WAY OF PERDITION. 



175 



risen to those desired heights of knowledge, holiness, 
and happiness. 

So the tempter comes to us. He takes advantage 
of natural, and lawful, and even holy desires, to lead 
us on to extremes, and by imperceptible degrees de- 
coy us from obedience and humility, till, or ever we 
are aware, we are pursuing wrong ends, or perhaps 
right ends in an unlawful and forbidden way. Un- 
wary souls are always " taken captive by the devil at 
his will." 

How often have young men begun with the laudable 
desire and purpose of an education, and the pride 
of knowledge has crept in, and by degrees led them 
into infidelity ! At other times knowledge has been 
sought for its selfish gains or honors, rather than as 
the means of glorifying God ; and at the end they 
have found, instead of paradise, disappointment, de- 
feat, exilement, and the wrath of God. 

How often has the commendable desire of com- 
petency, for the lawful uses of life, led men by de- 
grees into inordinate desire for this world, and their 
success in business has confirmed them in the love 
of riches, till they have become " blinded by the god 
of this world !" 

How often has even natural affection betrayed the 
parent, through the subtlety of Satan, to a merely 
selfish love and sinful indulgence of the child, so that 
if the child lived it was brought up for fashion and 
worldly gayety, and selfish gratification, or, if it died, 
the rebellious parental heart repined and "charged 
God foolishly !" 

The phrase, "knowing good and evil," comprehends 



i?6 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



all real knowledge whatsoever, according to the phrase- 
ology of early times. See 2 Sam. xiv, 17. 

Curiosity is the desire of knowledge, but here it be- 
comes the desire of looking into forbidden things, and 
becoming what God had not proposed. Then it be- 
comes a treacherous decoy to lead the soul far from 
God, till, as with the heathen philosophers, " by wis- 
dom they know not God." 

4. Sin is social. "She gave also to her husband." 
When temptation has succeeded with one he turns to 
influence others. 

The heathen could not give up their old compan- 
ions who had been converted in the apostles' times — 
they wanted company. 1 Peter iv, 4. 

How quickly we turn to do the devil's work, in 
tempting others, when once we have yielded to him 
ourselves ! 

But this active social power of sin, in dragging or 
seducing others from the right way, fearfully enhances 
guilt and multiplies transgression. How rapid is the 
downward progress of the soul when it not only yields 
itself to temptation, but uses its social power, its in- 
fluence over others — one of the highest trusts of 
a responsible being — to draw them down to the same 
ruin ! 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. Temptation generally comes from without. Two 
things belong to the external form of temptation ; 
first, a real or supposed good ; second, an enemy, or 
tempter, to present it and make the most of it to de- 
coy the soul. 

2. But temptation must find something within us 



THE WA Y OF PERDITION. 



177 



which responds in congenial sympathy. It does not 
follow that we must have congeniality with sin, or 
with the sin involved in compliance, but congeniality 
with the thing proposed, or with some circumstances 
attending it. Thus, there was something in Eve's 
pure soul, before she was " beguiled by the tempter," 
congenial to the thing proposed. Sin was not pro- 
posed, though inevitably involved ; but knowledge, and 
an elevated rank of being, were proposed. So in lay- 
ing a snare, or setting a trap for an animal, a hire is 
presented. The animal is attracted by the lure — it 
is something which he relishes. Here lies the neces- 
sity not only of inward holiness, but wisdom and 
watchfulness. 

3. Every temptation is a lie ; it decoys to death. 

It is connected with truth, and the truth gives it 
currency and credibility. But the concealed poison of 
the falsehood is there. The fruit looked well, tasted 
well, and appeared "desirable to make one wise." But 
the intention of the tempter, and the effect of the temp- 
tation, were only death. No parlance with Satan. He 
is a liar and father of lies. God is true, and his word 
only can repel the power and wisdom of the Serpent. 

4. Temptation is not physical force. It is simple 
deceit. It leaves the soul in full possession of free- 
dom to choose or to refuse. The devil is not suffered 
to put forth power to force men into sin, or sinful 
compliance. He can only lie, and deceive, and lure. 
Against such a power courage is less needed than de- 
cision. No argument will baffle the subtle deceiver, 
but a prompt "get thee behind me, Satan," with up- 
lifted prayer for help, will vanquish him. 



i;8 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXXI. 

THE LORD'S REQUIREMENT. 

" What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love 
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." Micah vi, 8. 

Some men are peculiarly pleased with this text ; 
it is " Gospel enough for them." They array it, 

1. Against the Deity and atonement of Jesus Christ. 

2. Against the doctrine of human depravity. 

3. Against the doctrine of regeneration and sanc- 
tification by the Holy Spirit. 

Let us see how justly. It requires, 
I. That we walk humbly with God. 

1. They do not do this, who, with pen and scissors, 
commence cutting out the leaves, or erasing and in- 
terlining God's Word, refusing to be taught by God, 
and determining for themselves what God shall reveal 
to them, or teach them. 

2. They do not do it, who decline to execute what 
they confess God enjoins upon them to do. 

II. That we do justly, 

1. To men, not in mere dollars and cents, but to 
their souls, by our sympathy, teaching, prayer, and 
examples. 

2. To God — "Render unto God the things that are 
God's." 

III. That we love mercy. 

God is merciful to us ; we must be to others, even 
to enemies and heathens. We must not only practice, 
but love mercy. 



THE LORD'S REQUIREMENT. 



179 



There are three sorts of religion in Christian lands. 
One or the other of these is taught in the text. 

1. Natural religion, or the religion of law, Do 
and live. Does this text teach it ? No. It says do; 
but have we done ? We want a religion which meets 
the case of those who have failed to do, and are dead. 
To interpret all the Bible by Micah is a principle that 
would destroy any instrument or book in the world. 
Every part of a deed of trust does not reveal the 
trust, or prescribe the conditions. If one part does, 
it is enough. So in the sacred Scriptures, or cove- 
nants. Other parts of the Bible teach the atonement ; 
here it was not introduced, nor need be. Let all 
parts be taken together as forming one complete 
whole, and there will appear a beautiful harmony. 

2. Religion of forms, pantomime — hoping to please 
God by mummeries, suited to tickle little children. 
Against this Micah is pleading; against sacrifices and 
libations unaccompanied with penitence, and not lead- 
ing to a change of heart and life. 

3. Evangelical religion — of the heart. Penitence, 
faith, humility, universal justice, etc. His language 
is very comprehensive. Doing justice and loving 
mercy comprehend all our duty to man. Walking 
humbly with God is the sum of all spiritual religion. 



i8o 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXXII. 
FEW SAVED. 

"Lord, are there few that be saved?" Luke xiii, 23. 

I. Few that seek conviction of sin. 
II. Few that seek to be born again. 

III. Few that seek to grow in gj'acc. 

IV. Few that seek to be sanctified wholly. 
V. Few that keep the witness of the Spirit. 

VI. Few that strive to enter in at the strait gate. 
VII. Few that take up their cross daily. 
VIII. Few that love not the^world. 
IX. Few that love their neighbor as themselves. 

X. Few that love God with all their hearts. 
XI. Few that die while conquerors of death. 



XXXIII. 

GOD A CONSUMING FIRE. 

" Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence 
and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews xii, 28, 29. 

Fear was the great motive by which God sought 
to secure the obedience of Israel. And the apostle 
here insists that the Gospel, so far from ceasing to 
address our fears, appeals most urgently to our dread 



GOD A CONSUMING FIRE. 



181 



of evil (ver. 25). The text contains such an appeal. 
It will be observed, 

I. That it describes in God a temper or disposi- 
tion TO PUNISH TRANSGRESSORS. 

Two words are mostly used to denote this temper, 
hatred and anger. We need not multiply quotations 
where they abound so much : " He hates all the 
workers of iniquity." This hatred is strong and in- 
tense : "The wicked, and him that loveth violence, 
his soul hateth." 

If this were not sufficient, he says, he abhors, or 
intensely hates, the workers of iniquity. The wicked 
are an abomination to him. Thus God hates sinners ; 
he is angry with them ; his wrath is kindled against 
them ; he is angry with them every day. The wrath 
of God is represented as breaking forth upon Israel. 
In John's vision, the wrath of God and the Lamb are 
familiar terms. 

The Gospel message is accompanied with the sol- 
emn declaration that " the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungod- 
liness of men ;" and it is the Gospel only that opens 
the door of pardon and escape from this wrath. 

II. The text implies not only the disposition, but 

THE PURPOSE OF GOD TO PUNISH. 

The punishment of sin is necessitated by the holi- 
ness, justice, and truth of his nature. "He will not 
at all acquit the wicked." Of this he has fore- 
warned us. 

1. He has forewarned us of the place of punish- 
ment ; he has given it various significant names, as 
Sheol y Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus. 



182 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



2. Under various imagery, he has set forth the suf- 
ferings of those punished— " worm dieth not," "con- 
demnation," "torment," "lake of fire and brimstone," 
"banishment from the presence of the Lord," "ever- 
lasting fire." 

3. The very offer of pardon implies the necessity 
of taking legal notice of sin, and punishing it if it be 
not pardoned. 

4. This punishment is "prepared it is now ready. 
" Prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt, xxv, 
41. Heaven is a "prepared" place. "I go to pre- 
pare a place for you," says Jesus. But O how differ- 
ent the two places ! So also God is prepared for the 
judgment ; "He is now ready to judge the quick and 
the dead." 

III. Practical uses. 

It is used by the apostle to induce us to receive 
"grace" for the acceptable worship of God, to be 
stable, and ibide faithful in his service, and to serve 
him " with reverence and godly fear." 

In order to the reverent and acceptable worship of 
God, we must have clear views of his holiness — his 
hatred of sin, and his justice in punishing it. But it 
is objected to this view, 

1. That God is love. Yes, and the sun is light, but it 
is also fire. God is not only love, but a consuming fire. 

2. God is a parent. Yes, but the parent corrects, 
and sooner banishes one child than destroy the fam- 
ily ; and he does it from love. 

3. You degrade God to the level of a passionate 
creature. No, for love, too, is a passion. You say love 
is no passion in God ; then neither is anger. 



GOD A CONSUMING FIRE. 



The anger of God is not the anger of man. Man 
is angry at what is right ; God, at what is wrong. 
Man's anger is not equitable in degree. The anger 
of God is according to truth. Man's passion varies 
and subsides ; God's is the ceaseless energy and re- 
solve of justice. But man's consumes, and so does 
God's, and is therefore called anger. 

It is sometimes said that God's whole nature is op- 
posed to sin. Universalists wonder at our love of 
this doctrine. We love it as a Bible doctrine. Look 
at the days of Jesus ; he had to guard against an op- 
posite tendency, such as theirs. The whole Bible 
guards us against this ease and indifference. Curses 
are poured out upon those who neglect grace and 
withhold worship. 

The "terrors of the Lord" are no excuse to the 
sinner for not approaching him in worship. He offers 
grace for acceptable service. The fires of his holi- 
ness burn against sin. Let the sinner forsake his 
sins and fly to the offered grace, and all the attri- 
butes of God will beam with benignity upon him. 
We who believe "receive a kingdom which can not 
be moved." Heaven and earth may be shaken, and 
all temporal creations "removed ;" but the Gospel of 
Christ, the kingdom of his grace, which he offers to 
every believer, can not be shaken. It must remain ; 
it is immovable as the throne of God. So argues the 
apostle. The worshipers in this immovable kingdom 
must be endued with grace for a correspondingly un- 
changeable and abiding service. Grace is equal to this 
result. The fires of Sinai, to which the text alludes, 
before which the trembling Hebrews stood affrighted, 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



still burn against transgression. But, to the believer 
in Jesus, they have no terror. In the face of Jesus 
they become the mild effulgence of holy love. To 
the humble believer, who receives this offered grace, 
the holiness and majesty of God become the pledges 
of peace and gladness. 



xxxiv. 

JESUS AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS. 

" Our friend Lazarus sleepeth ; but L go that L may awake him out of 
sleeps John x, II. 

We learn, 

1. Christ is omniscient. He sees the dying Laz- 
arus, though far away. 

2. He is omnipotent. He raises the dead. 

3. He is God ; for God alone is omniscient and 
omnipotent. 

4.. Christ loves his followers. 

5. He loves his poorest, meanest follower. He 
might have had a small funeral, but Christ hastens to 
his grave. 

6. Christ laments to be separated from his followers. 
He is a mourner after them. Few tears might have 
been shed over the grave of Lazarus, but Jesus is one 
of the weepers there. What an honor! Which would 
the dead have preferred, a monument of marble or 
Jesus tears? 



JESUS A T THE GRA VE OF LAZARUS. lS$ 



7. Christ's friendship is fruitful When he weeps 
he blesses. If he weeps with the mourner he blesses 
the mourner. Naked sighs and tears are not all 
His tears, like dews to the grass, cause a springing 
up into life. He cries, " Lazarus, come forth," and he 
obeys. 

8. Christ has the keys of death and Hades. He is 
ready for the resurrection morn. He is girded already 
for the conquest of the grave, and here gives an earnest 
of his triumph. Lazarus comes forth. 

9. See how Jesus has sweetened death, and chris- 
tened it with a name most savory. " Sleepeth" Soft 
and balmy is the Christian's repose. The grave has 
pleasant odors, and the purified soul feels no dread 
at entering that domain. Sin plants it with stings, 
but full faith beholds in it a bed of flowers for the 
slumberer. 

10. Christ, who raised the dead, can sanctify the soul. 

11. Let us see that we be the friends of Christ, if 
we would have him for our friend. 

Lazarus had long loved him. He welcomed him to 
his home, received him at his best door, into his best 
room, into his choicest circles of friends, made him 
his chief and most honored guest, and never grew 
ashamed of him. How many Christians now would 
spurn him from their parlors ? Look at the center 
table. Is Jesus admitted there ? Are the selections 
of literature and taste according to Christ, or dictated 
by worldly fashion ? Are we ashamed of Christ in his 
humiliation and simplicity ? 



16 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



XXXV. 

SOWING AND REAPING. 

"Whatsoever a man sozveth, that shall he also reap" Gal. vi, 7. 

I. There is a seed-time in man's existence. 
Seed-time indicates some particular season. 

II. This 'seed-time" is in this life. 

1. Here is the seed — the Word of God. 

2. Here are means of cultivation — the ministry, 
Bible teachers, saving influences. 

III. There are two kinds of moral husbandry. 
Sowing to the flesh, and sowing to the Spirit. 

IV. Man sows the seed of his own happiness 
or misery. "Whatsoever a man soweth," etc. 

1. Satan only helps to sow to the flesh. 

2. God's decree does not sow it. 

3. God's foreknowledge does not. 

4. Fall of Adam does not. It is your voluntary act. 
God rewardeth every man according to his — his own — 
work. Every thought, word, and act, is sowing seed 
for eternity. 

V. There is a harvest time in man's existence. 
Harvest is that season when the farmer goes forth to 
gather what he has sown. Seed-time and harvest are 
correlative terms, the one implies the other. It is as 
certain there will be a harvest as that there is a seed- 
time. 

VI. The harvest is in a future world. 

1. Harvest must succeed seed-time. 

2. Separate from seed-time, not mingled. 



SOWING AND REAPING. 



18 7 



3. Seed-time lasts till death, and, of course, harvest 
after. 

4. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 
thy might." 

VII. The harvest is as various as the seed. 
Sowing is to flesh and Spirit. Harvest is " corrup- 
tion" and " life everlasting -." 

The apostle is consistent. The harvest must cor- 
respond to the sowing ; the immutable law in moral 
government, as in nature, "yielding seed after its 
kind" Gen. i, 11, 12. 

VIII. The harvest will last forever. 

1. The terms in the text — corruption, life everlast- 
ing — imply it. One interprets the other by contrast. 

2. There is no use of a second probation. Proba- 
tion is a moral test ; it must not coerce, or overbear 
human freedom, either by force or fright, or undue 
stimulation of reward. If the present probation is 
adequate and infinitely befitting God and man, there 
is no wisdom or fitness in a second. 

inferences. 

We infer, 

1. The necessity of watchfulness. 

2. The necessity of diligence. 

3. God's goodness. 

Short seed-time, long harvest. Sinners complain: 
What! God send us to hell for sins of a few years! 
How wicked! Complain of that which so illustrates 
God's goodness ! Who complains of large harvests 
for small labor in farming, if he sows good seed. The 
true language is : May God give us eternal harvests 



i88 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



for a few years of toil ! Our complaints against the 
Divine economy spring from our own corruptions, 
ingratitude, and alienation from God. 



XXXVI. 

THE WORK AND SPIRIT OF A TRUE MINISTER 
OF JESUS CHRIST. 

" Unto me, tuho am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given ; 
that I should p?'each among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." 
Ephesians iii, 8. 

We will consider, 
I. The spirit of Paul. 
II. His work. 

III. What fitness there was between his spirit 

AND HIS WORK. 

I. The spirit of Paul. 

1. It was a spirit of humility. "Unto me, who am 
less than the least of all saints /" In another place he 
says, "Who am not meet to be called an apostle! 1 

2. It was a spirit of gratitude — " Is this grace 
given." The whole epistle burns, as it were, with the 
glowing and grateful fervors of a soul struggling for 
language to express its obligations to the grace of God. 

3. It is the language of confidence. Though the 
least of all saints, he felt that he would preach among 
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. This 
the grace of God in him would do. His littleness 
was not in his way as an apostle. (12th verse.) 



A TRUE MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST. 1 89 



4. It was the spirit of self -consecration. He had 
given himself wholly to God and his work. " God 
forbid that I should glory save in the cross" " I re- 
solved to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ 
and him crucified" 

II. The work of Paul — " That I should preach 
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." 

III. How did the spirit of Paul constitute a fit- 
ness FOR HIS WORK ? 

1. His work, involving great reproach, demanded 
great humility, to. preach among Gentiles, the scorn of 
the yew, Christ despised, his riches. 

2. His work, involving great sacrifices, demanded 
great gratitude. 

3. His work, being most difficult, required great 
confidence. "In whom we have boldness and confi- 
dence!' Verse 12. 

4. His work, being holy, required self consecration. 
Paul was the prisoner of the Lord. Not the Jews' 
or the Romans' prisoner, but the Lord's. So fully 
was he surrendered to Christ. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

I. Grace alone can make a minister ; nature can not 
do it ; culture can not do it ; the Church can not do it. 
. 2. Grace can make a minister. It can humble pride ; 
strengthen with heavenly courage ; sanctify to God, 
and consecrate to his work Paul, Peter, Newton, Scott, 
Wesley, Fletcher, a Bigelow, a Summerfield. 

3. Men of grace must do God's work. 

4. If we lose grace we lose our calling, and ought 
to recover grace or resign our parchments. 



1 90 SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 

5. To be called as a minister is a great favor. Is 
this grace, or favor, given ? 

The faithful minister is the highest style of creat- 
ures. This is the noblest of all callings. Gabriel's 
is not so noble. And he is by grace fitted for it. 
Gabriel could not do it. If he would come into this 
assembly to-day and a poor sinner should call to him 
and ask, " What shall I do to be saved ?" he would re- 
ply, "I do n't know ; I never was saved ; I never was 
a sinner. Go to these ministers ; they know all 
about it. They have been convicted, converted — 
saved. Go to them ; they can tell you all about it." 



XXXVII. 
JESUS THE SAVIOR. 

" Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their 
sins." Matthew i, 21. 

I. The Savior. 

1. As to his person. " Immanuel ;" God with us ; 
God-man. 

2. His office. Prophet, priest, king, Savior. 
II. His salvation. 

He saves them from sin, 

1. By making it painful to the conscience. 

2. By making it fearful to our anticipations. 

3. By remitting the penalty; he justifies. 

4. By making it loathsome to the affections ; hated 



ABILITY OF CHRIST'S MINISTERS. 191 



for its own sake ; by cleansing our hearts from the 
love of it ; by full sanctification. 

III. The subjects of this salvation. 

" His people? All are his people who are thus 
saved ; his Church — his covenant people who are 
faithful to the covenant. To these, his elect, he 
makes no higher promise. " He shall save them from 
their sins." This is their peculiar right of inherit- 
ance, their calling and privilege, their duty, their 
badge of distinction. " Faithful is he that calleth you, 
who also will do it." 

XXXVIII. 

ABILITY OF CHRIST'S MINISTERS. 

"I can do all things throtigh Christ which strengthened me.'''' Phi- 
lippians iv, 13. 

There are two great lessons in religion: 
First. Our own nothingness ; and, 
Second. Christ's fullness. 

To learn these requires years of experience — trying 
experience. Grace in us is never ripe till nature is 
dead. God loves to create out of nothing. Paul had 
learned these lessons. We will consider, 
I. The ability of Christ's ministers. 
II. That this ability is not inherent in them. 
III. That it is the power of Christ resting on 
them. 

I. Their ability. 

1. They are able to endure all the hardships, and 



192 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



deprivations, and persecutions to which their calling 
exposes them. 

See context. All the apostles were like Paul in 
this respect. So faithful ministers of every age. 
Shall we complain of poverty, trials, etc. ? Our Lord 
and Master endured all — poverty, hunger, thirst, weari- 
ness, reproach, persecution, and martyrdom. 

2. They are able to convict, convert, sanctify, com- 
fort, and save immortal souls, instrumentally. This 
they do from generation to generation. What a work 
is this. The greatest miracles are wrought by them. 
The miracle of Pentecost was greater than raising 
the dead. 

II. This ability is not inherent in them. 

By this we mean it is not a congenital power, or 
derived from birth, and that it is not acquired by them 
as an art or a science. 

1. It is not congenital, or of nature. Powers of 
mind, as conception, memory, imagination, invention, 
can not do it. The work of a minister is not of a 
nature to be effected by the mere action of one mind 
upon another. 

2. It is not acquired by education. Paul was 
learned, but he gloried not in learning. So we. How 
many learned men who preached with the grace of a 
Buckminster, or the mental power of a Channing, 
were totally unable to convert a soul ? How many 
Carvossos have converted thousands? 

III. Their ability is the strength of God ; or, the 
power of Christ resting on them. 

" Tarry at Jerusalem till ye be endowed with power 
from on high." 



DIVINE IMPARTIALITY. 193 

1. Their love of the cause is from Christ. 

2. Their choice to suffer in it, and for it, is from 
Christ. 

3. Their call to the public ministry of it is from 
Christ. 

4. The word which they minister is from Christ. 

5. The power which attends the preached Word is 
from Christ. 

6. The convicting, converting, and sanctifying en- 
ergy is from Christ. The creation of worlds is easier 
than the conversion of souls. 

7. The conservation of the Church is from Christ. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. Unconverted and un sanctified ministers are a 
curse. 

2. Be ye .holy. 



xxxix. 

DIVINE IMPARTIALITY. 

"For there is no respect of persons with God.'''' Romans ii, II. 

What is Divine impartiality ? We answer : 
I. Negatively. 

1. It does not imply that God does not diversify 
men's outward conditions, as to wealth, reputation, 
length of days, health, comforts, etc. 

2. It does not imply that he bestows upon men 
equal intellectual or executive faculties. In the hu- 

17 



194 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



man family there is every variety and grade of mental 
endowment. Some are little less than angelic, others 
appear scarcely more sagacious than the higher orders 
of the animal kingdom. Yet the lowest are widely 
and essentially different from, and superior to, creat- 
ures of mere instinct. 

3. It does not imp]}- that God secures to men the 
same external religious privileges. Note Jews, Gen- 
tiles, heathen, Christians. 

4. It does not imply that God does not diversify 
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as to ages, young and 
old ; as to form and power, as sudden and unsought 
conviction in Saul, on day of Pentecost ; and as to 
slow and sought blessings, as in the case of Corne- 
lius — "prayers are heard;" "have come up as a me- 
morial" that is, unanswered as yet, but reminders. 

II. Positively. 

God is impartial, in that, 

1. Christ died for all. 

2. Holy Spirit given to all. "I will pour out my 
Spirit upon all flesh.'' 

3. Spirit is given to all for one end, namely, to save. 
"To every man to profit withal." 

4. God hears and answers the sincere prayers of 
all. He accepts all that fear him and work right- 
eousness. 

5. God will destroy all the workers of iniquity; 
he will be impartial in judgment. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. God now awaits to convict all. 

2. He waits to convert you all. 



FORGE TFULNESS OF GOD. 



195 



3. To reclaim all backsliders. 

4. To sanctify ail believers. 

5. No excuse for staying away. His throne is 
vindicated if you are lost. The vilest may come, and 
the humblest be like the "beloved disciple" who 
"leaned on Jesus' breast." 



XL. 

FORGETFULNESS OF GOD. 

" Of the Rock that begot thee thott art unmindful, and hast forgotten 
God that formed thee.' 1 '' Deuteronomy xxxii, 18. 

I. Evidences of forgetfulness of God. 

1. Disregarding his commands and works. 

2. Not tracing his gifts to their Author. 

3. Not noticing our afflictions as the fruit of his 
providence. 

4. Not making our visits to him in the closet. 

II. The nature of this crime. 

1. It has the nature of ingratitude, for God is a 
Benefactor. 

2. It has the nature of rebellion, for God is our 
Sovereign, and his dispensations to us are with the 
design to bring us to obey, love, and be like him. 

III. The consequences which ensue from this 

FORGETFULNESS. 

I. It blinds the mind. To remember God is to 
dwell in light ; to forget him is to betake ourselves 
to darkness. The moral history of all heathenism is 



196 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



put down in a few words — God has written it — "They 
did not like to retain God in their knowledge." 

2. It hardens the heart. Nothing so directly tends 
to this result as ingratitude to benefactors, and oppo- 
sition to just authority. How can we have a lively 
conscience toward him whom we have banished from 
our thoughts ? 

3. It removes all those restraints of grace which 
check us in the ways of sin. A forgotten law is to 
us, practically, no law, and we alike banish fear of 
penalty and sense of obligation. 

4. It does exceedingly provoke God. No greater 
contempt of his authority and character can be given 
than in that thoughtless levity which soon forgets his 
commands, and as readily his judgments and mercies. 

In order to survey this crime aright, we should 
consider how it would appear in other beings. For 
vice in ourselves is tolerated as a decent guest, when 
in others it seems too ugly to be borne with. What 
should we think would be the desert of angels, if, in 
the midst of all their glory and bliss, they should for- 
get God ? We are blessed above angels. Christ 
hath died for us. 



THE THRONE OF GRACE. 



19/ 



XLI. 

THE THRONE OF GRACE. 

"Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain 
mercy, and find grace to help in time of needy Hebrews iv, 16. 

1. Blessings of the text. 

II. Where obtained. 
III. How SOUGHT. 
I. Blessings spoken of. 

1. Mercy — pardoning mercy, reconciling mercy. All 
need it. Sins oppress us — must have it or perish. 

2. Grace — " grace to help in time of need!' Always 
time of need — every moment. Affliction such a mo- 
ment. Temptation time of need — enemy comes in 
like a flood. Seasons of perplexity and anxiety time 
of need. Season of despondency — death. In these 
times of need nothing can "help us but grace. Grace 
in time of need is present gi'ace. Not for future 
troubles — real not imaginary wants. 

II. Where are mercy and grace to be found ? 
Throne of grace. 

1. A throne — majesty, wealth, dominion. Earthly 
thrones — heavenly throne. Justice and power belong 
to thrones. No comfort, then, to me, a rebel sinner ! 
Answer — yes, for it is a throne of grace. Allusion 
to the mercy-seat covering the ark — at each end a 
cherub — between which the Lord was said to sit on 
a throne. 

2. Throne of grace signifies that its occupant has 
mercy to bestow. Christ occupies it ; he is gracious. 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



3. Throne of grace signifies that its occupant is 
willing to bestow mercy. The name of the throne de- 
clares it. It is not a seat of judgment or wrath. 

4. It implies that mercy and grace are distributed 
as freely and royally to the penitent as protection is 
to the innocent, or punishment to the guilty. Freely, 
kings receive nothing for royal favor. Royally, they 
make no small or stinted gifts. Gives like a king. 

III. But HOW SHALL WE ATTAIN THESE GIFTS ? 

1. We must come to the throne. Universalist 
says they will come to us ; but text says come to the 
throne for them. This is God's order. We may ap- 
ply for them. Dust and ashes may come to the throne. 
Jesus sits on the throne for this purpose. 

2. How shall we comet Boldly — not rashly or 
irreverently. A throne should fill us with awe ; not 
with distrust or unbelief ; not with restraint. We 
must realize we approach a throne of grace — courts 
of law and equity. 

O the wonders of the grace of God ! Has built a 
throne ! Inducted one as its occupant ! Changed 
the ministry of justice into the ministry of mercy — 
the ministry of wrath into the ministry of love. 

CLOSE. 

1. Without prayer, without mercy. 

2. Why so many Christians lack grace. 



THE BARREN FIG- TREE. 



199 



XLII. 

THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 

" Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and 
find none : cut it down ; why cumbereth it the ground . ? " Luke xiii, 7. 

I. Capabilities — planted in vineyard. 

II. Obligations — seeking fruit. 

III. Unfruitfulness — find none. 

IV. Baleful influence — cumbereth it. 
V. Destiny — cut it down. 

I. Capabilities. 

1. Fig-tree ; its nature, 

2. Planted in fruitful vineyard. 

3. Cultivated with skill three years, that is, after 
the time for fruit ; reasonable time for testing its fruit- 
fulness. 

II. Obligations. 

God's property. God caused us, like a tree, to 
spring into being. All our powers are his ; he nour- 
ishes us by special care and privileges ; his rains and 
sunshine visit us. 

Well may he demand fruit. All he has done is for 
this end. He seeks fruit as his right ; he has a right 
to expect it. 

III. Unfruitfulness. 

The charge is not of bad fruit, but of no fruit — use- 
less. But in our negative good there is positive evil. 
God did not create us for negative ends ; all things 
have an ultimate design. 

Some have shown leaves, some of you a few bios- 



200 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



soms ; in Church brethren gathered around yon, and 
said, See there, how full of promise ; fruit soon ; but, 
alas! you have cast your blossoms, and your leaf is 
withered. 

IV. Baleful influence. 

Cumbereth. You occupy the soil, exhaust its 
strength, shade the vines, and other productions of 
the vineyard are sickly and dying by your influence. 

Irreligious excLmp]es— profane, false, skeptical — 
earthly and sensual. 

The moral and amiable, who are irreligious, are 
worst of all. Their amiability conceals their deadly 
enmity against God. 

You bear fruit for others — for self, for the world, 
for Satan — not for Christ. Your goodness makes 
nothing for Christ. 

The larger the tree, the more injurious the shade, 
the greater the incumbrance to the soil. Rich and 
Jionorable are most guilty. 

V. Destiny. 

Cut down. Not merely the profane, but moral — 
all who bear no fruit — no " fruits of the Spirit." 

If barren, Why not? Take them to heaven I In- 
termix their dead branches with the living trees of 
Paradise ! 

Why not cut down now ? Because of Christ's in- 
tercession, and prayers of friends. 

But, lastly, friends, parents, and Christ himself will 
agree, and say, " Cut it down." 



THE FAITH OF THE PA TRIARCHS. 



201 



XLIII. 

THE FAITH OF THE PATRIARCHS. 

" These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but hav- 
ing seen them afar off, and wei'e persuaded of them," etc. Hebrews 
xi, 13. 

I. Faith. 

What is it ? Believing God. There are several 
sorts : 

1. Historical faith — as that the worlds were made 
(verse 3). 

2. Prophetic faith — such as seemed to consist of 
visions of the future, which might be given to the 
good or evil. Balaam, etc., (ver. 20). 

3. Miraculous faith (ver. 32-36). 

4. Justifying faith. 

5. Sanctifying faith. 

II. Elements of faith. 
God's promises are its foundation. 
States of mind in regard to these promises are its 
elements. 

The text declares what these states of mind are : 

1. A survey of the promises. " Having seen them 
afar off" — that is, the blessings pledged. 

2. A persuasion of their truth and stability. "And 
were persuaded of them? 

3. Embracing them in our hearts as our portion, 
as the great Magna Charta of our rights, privileges, 
and blessings. "And embraced them" — brought 
them into most intimate fellowship. 



202 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



4. A public confession of their transforming power, 
and of our divorce and estrangement from the world 
by their influence. "And confessed that they zvere 
strangers and pilgrims on the earth!' 

ERRORS. 

1. There is great danger of mistaking sight for faith. 
Sight, or sensible possession, precludes faith. 

" Faith is the substance [subsistence in the mind] of 
things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen." 
The promise of good and the good promised are 
quite distinct. Faith apprehends the former ; sense, 
or fruition, the latter. Promise, like a bond, may rep- 
resent property ; but it is not property, only as faith, 
well assured, makes it equivalent to the reality which 
it represents. Thomas did not act upon the law of 
faith when he demanded to see, and sensibly test, the 
very body and wounds of Christ. Men do not walk 
by faith when they require outward prosperity in 
order to sustain their trust in God. The rich often 
think they trust God when they only trust in uncer- 
tain riches. 

2. There is great danger for mistaking fancy for 
faith. For instance, we go into the closet, kneel 
down, and imagine a heaven — golden streets, blessed 
scenes of future glory. This may be all fancy. It 
becomes faith, and approves itself as such, only as 
these visions supply practical rules, motives, and 
power for holy living and heavenly-mindedness. 
Faith views things as near, not afar off. It reveals 
" Christ in you the hope of glory." It is practical, not 
speculative ; real in its effects, not fanciful. 



MINISTERIAL EXAMPLE. 



203 



CONCLUSION. 

Sinner, without faith it is impossible to please God. 
You must trust him if you would please him ; and 
that trust must give you penitence, submission, obe- 
dience, and love. 

Christians, remember that the just shall live by 
faith. Without it, you draw back unto perdition. 
The miracles of Egypt, and Sinai, and the wilderness, 
did not obviate the new trial and test of faith at Ka- 
desh ; and, failing here, the people were condemned 
to wander and die in the desert. The object of the 
promise may seem afar off, and trouble may be nigh, 
but faith gives certainty to results, and conquers all. 



XLIV. 

MINISTERIAL EXAMPLE. 

"Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believer, 
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Tim. 
iv, 12. 

The Apostle, in various instances, challenges his 
converts, as Philippians iii, 17; 1 Cor. iv, 16; 1 Cor. 
xi, 1. 

1. We profess conversion. What is it? 

2. We profess a degree of sanctity suited to the 
ministry. What is that ? 

3. We profess to give our whole souls to the 
work — have publicly avouched ourselves a perpetual 



204 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



sacrifice in it. All this threefold profession is to be 
reproduced in our example. 

The preacher is, in his life, to be so exact a copy 
of Christ that the believer may, in imitating him, 
be like Christ — the copyist of the copy shall get the 
exact original. This is Paul's idea when he says : 
" Be ye followers, also, of me, even as I am, also, of 
Christ." i Thess. i, 6. 

A tailor cuts a garment for himself, and wears it as 
a specimen of his skill. A carpenter builds himself a 
house as a specimen of his workmanship. A physi- 
cian is sick, and takes medicine as a proof of its 
efficacy, but do n't get well. So a minister with good 
doctrine but bad example. Men do n't look to your 
preaching, to your learning, your good manners, or 
your outward polish. They will look to see if you 
are like Christ — a facsimile of the Savior's humanity. 
Let your life be the echo of your professions. 



XLV. 

ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. 

" The very God of peace sanctify you wholly" I Thess. v, 23. 

I. The import of this prayer. 
II. The encouragement we have to use it. 
III. The consequences of its being answered. 

I. The import of this prayer. 
"Sanctify wholly!" It means to all possible extent, 



ENTIRE SAXCTIFICATION. 



205 



and for all possible ends or services. To be more 
particular, it means. 

1. Separation from all sin. " Come out from among 
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." 

2. It means being filled with righteousness, or pos- 
sessed by the Spirit and presence of God. "Be filled 
with the Spirit." 

3. It means that the whole man, body, soul, and 
spirit, or the physical, the {soma), or body; the sensi- 
tive, (psuche) the affections and passions, and the 
{pneumd) immortal mind, may be wholly sanctified 
and preserved blameless in this life. In a word, the 
whole compoiind man is to be wholly sanctified in 
answer to this prayer. 

II. The encouragement we have to pray 

THUS. 

1. It is offered by the "God of peace!' 

2. This God of peace is a God of truth. "Faithful 
is he that calleth you." 

3. This God of peace and truth hath called you 
hereunto. " He that calleth you." How many and 
how various his calls and his promises to this very 
state ! Yet are we sanctified ? 

4. " He also will do it!' He is pledged, and will 
not deceive, or go back. He has done it for thou- 
sands. He has given us many witnesses. 

III. Consequences of its being answered. 

1. We shall rejoice evermore. Verse 16. 

2. We shall pray without ceasing. Verse 17. 

3. We shall in every thing give thanks. Verse 18. 

4. We shall be useful to others. See verses 14 
and 15. 



206 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



5. "We shall be preserved blameless unto the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

IMPROVEMENT. 

Would you have this blessing ? 

1. "Seek and ye shall find." 

2. Seek it as near at hand, and not afar off. How ? 
First, by prayer, and, second, by striving every mo- 
ment to lay your whole being on the altar as a sac- 
rifice to God. 

3. By abstaining from all that a sanctified Chris- 
tian may not do. Verse 22. 

4. By doing all that a sanctified Christian ought 
to do. Begin at once to act upon the basis of the 
covenant of entire consecration. 

5. By believing. He that believeth is saved. 



XLVI. 

WALKING IN THE LIGHT. 

" If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one 
with another.'''' I John i, 7. 

I. God is in the light. 

1. Of knowledge ; 

2. Of holiness ; 

3. Of happiness. 

1. He is in the light of knowledge-—/^, present, 

future. 



WALKING IN THE LIGHT. 



207 



2. In the light of Iioliness — -positive and intense, ab- 
solute. 

3. In the light of happiness — perpetual and infinite. 

II. We may walk in the light. 

First, of knowledge ; second, of purity ; third, of 
happiness. Walk — grow — advance. 

III. What shall follow. 

1. Fellowship with God. 

2. With saints. 

Light an element of fellowship : 

1. On the throne of God — the persons of the Trinity. 

2. Among unfallen angels. 

3. Glorified spirits. 

4. Sanctified, or growing saints. 

INFERENCES. 

Two things necessary to entire sanctification— 
1. Growing in grace, or walking in the light. In 

that condition of the soul — advancement — God is 

pleased to sanctify, and only in that. 

It may be asked how we can walk in the light of 

purity, or increase in holiness, after we are sanctified. 

Answer. Just as we may increase in knowledge after 

all error is corrected, or in happiness after all misery 

is gone. 

There are two ways to grow in knowledge, namely, 
correcting .errors and communicating information. 
Let, for instance, the error be that the sun revolves 
around the earth — that corrected, information may 
be given of his dimensions, distance from the earth, 
etc. But information on these points could not be 
admitted till the error named was removed. 



208 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



In two ways we grow in happiness, namely, re- 
moving misery and multiplying enjoyments. 

So in two ways we grow in purity. First, by re- 
moving sin, and, second, by increasing the strength 
of holy affections. 

2. The second thing indispensable to Christian 
perfection is faith, by which the soul walks in the 
light of God's promise, as he is in the light of it, and 
is assured that what he promises he will also fulfill. 



XLVII. 

THE APOSTLE'S PRAYER. 

"For this cause I bow my knees" etc. Ephesians iii, 14-21. 

I. The apostle prays: 

1. That his brethren may be strengthened. 

2. May be rooted and grounded in love. 

3. May have a comprehension with all saints of the 
length, breadth, depth, and height, and know the love 
of Christ, which passeth knowledge. 

4. That Christ may dwell in our hearts, and that 
we may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

5. By faith, and hence in this life — now. 
II. Our encouragement to pray. 

1. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — 
sympathy (ver. 14). 

2. The whole family in heaven and earth is named 
of the same Lord Jesus Christ, between whom and 



THE APOSTLE'S PR A YER. 



209 



the Father there is this relationship and sympathy, 
reaching to the whole family (ver. 15). 

3. To grant the apostle's prayer would be "accord- 
ing to the riches of his glory" (ver. 16), that is, con- 
sistent with it. See John xv, 8. Also, the preposition 
kata, "according to," denotes rule of measurement, 
in proportion to, etc. 

4. The blessed state prayed for is to be produced 
by "his Spirit in the inner man" (ver. 16). The whole 
work being of God, as the efficient agent, is sure, 
therefore, to be performed. 

5. It is to be by the indwelling of Christ by that 
same Holy Spirit (ver. 17). 

6. The saints are used to such high states, and he 
prayed for common things then, though now so rare. 
" In other ages it was not made known as it is now, 
revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Holy 
Spirit." Ver. 18. 

7. God was able not only to do what he asked, but 
abundantly above all that he could ask or think. Paul 
had been to the third heaven, yet could neither ask 
nor think of all that God could do for his saints — by 
a great abundance he could not think it (ver. 20). 
The language of the promise outsteps the common 
measure in fullness ; but no human words can express, 
or mind comprehend, the excellence of the Divine 
meaning. 

8. For he could work up to the measure of his om- 
nipotence in us (ver. 20). All moral difficulties are 
out of the way, and all God's might was at full lib- 
erty to do its utmost in these things spoken of above 
(ver. 20). 

18 



210 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



9. "According to the power that worketh in us." 
Ver. 20. The rule of operation is already laid down, 
the causes are already in operation which are to bring 
about all this glorious result. Regeneration is the 
beginning and the pledge of perfect and everlasting- 
salvation. Wonderful are the forces already at work ! 
The same power and methods of grace, the same law 
of spiritual life, shall, through faith, accomplish all 
things. 

III. The doxology (ver. 21). 

1. To him be glory. 

2. In the Church. 

3. By Christ Jesus. 

4. Throughout all ages. 

XLVIII. 

COMPLETE JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST. 

"It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ 
that died ; yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand 
of God, who also maketh intercession for lis." Romans viii, 33, 34. 

Of two things men are very difficult to be per- 
suaded. The first is, that they are condemned by God's 
law, and the second is, that they may be acquitted by 
Christ's death. Yet these things are most important 
to be believed. 

I. All men are naturally in condemnation. 

"He that believeth not is condemned already." 

Pardon implies condemnation. None but the con- 
demned can be pardoned. 



COMPLETE JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST 211 



The Day of Judgment is in fact a sentence day, in 
which the Executive pronounces maledictions on the 
guilt)', rather than proceeds to find them guilty. "De- 
part from me ye cursed" etc. 

Conscience, when awakened, attests the sinner s 
condemnation. " I was alive without the law once, 
but when the commandment came, sin revived and I 
died." 

But men can scarcely believe it. They set up 
pleas against it, and strive to persuade themselves that 
they are not condemned. They plead, 

1. That it would be unjust in God to condemn 
them, when he permitted them to be born into the 
world so depraved. 

2. Their ignorance. 

3. The influence of popular example and associations. 

4. The secular cares and interests of life. 

5. The mercy of God. 

With such arguments, not, perhaps, formally or log- 
ically proposed but secretly cherished, do men resist 
the conviction that they are condemned. But, if at last 
we are awakened to a sense of condemnation, and 
begin to look around for some method of escape, it 
is then, 

II. Difficult to be persuaded of the only true 
method of pardon. And this difficulty is twofold: 

1. To persuade us that our acquittal, or absolution, 
is not to be wrought out by us; and, 

2. To persuade us that it is now wholly wrought 
out by Jesus. 

(1.) We are apt to think that our acquittal is to 
be wrought out by us — by repentance, love to God, 



212 



SKETCHES AND SKELETONS. 



humility, zeal in good works, or some frame of mind, 
outward obedience. 

(2.) Whereas our acquittal is wholly purchased for 
us by Christ. Death, resurrection, intercession are 
mentioned in the text in connection with this acquittal. 
Doctrine is, that the merits of a crucified, ascended, 
and interceding Savior are the sole ground of our 
justification. 

No state of mind commends us to God but Christ's 
merits. FaitJi alone procures this justification ; not 
because faith has merit any more than a beggar ex- 
tending his hand to take alms. But faith incorpo- 
rates us in Christy and makes us one with him, so that 
his death is as our death, and we become the right- 
eousness of God in him. 

What is this justification ? It is more than pardon. 
The criminal is pardoned, but goes away under the 
painful consciousness, and the reproach, of guilt. 
Justification is being accounted righteous. It brings 
not only legal, but a sense of real innocence. It not 
only so absolves us that the law does not condemn us, 
but O, blessed be God ! it so absolves us that our own 
heart does not condemn us. You ask how ? 

I can not tell how. Not by forgetfulness of our 
sins ; nor by a forgetfulness of their malignity, and 
hell-desert. But O blessed mystery! "Being jus- 
tified by faith we have peace with God, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." We are accounted righteous in 
him so completely, that " there is therefore now no 
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." 
Not by throwing a cloak of Divine righteousness 
over a corrupt heart, but by removing sin from the 



COMPLETE JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST. 



213 



heart — a personal righteousness, and yet the gift of 
God. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

1. No ground of confidence in ourselves. Self-re- 
nunciation, forsaking all for Christ, is the first step 
toward justification. 

2. No occasion to distrust God. As our pardon 
and fitness for heaven are from him, we can "assure 
our hearts before him," and have "boldness in the day 
of judgment." "It is God that justifieth, who is he 
that condemneth?" 



J^ART II. 

ADDRESSES 



ADDRESSES. 



I. 

ELOQUENCE: 

An Address delivered before the Jefferson and Union Lit- 
erary Societies of Augusta College, August, 1836. 

IT is one thing to acquire knowledge — it is another 
thing to acquire the art of dispensing its treas- 
ures for the good of mankind. As members of this 
Collegiate Institution, it is your chief work to train 
your minds to severe exertion, by seeking and treas- 
uring up the truths of science. 

But you have not forgotten that, while gathering, 
you should learn how to scatter abroad. You, there- 
fore, cherish these societies, and, by their aid, are 
forming your manners for the scenes of active life. 
Here you learn to use the materials acquired by study 
as you hope to use them in future years. Your aca- 
demic toils supply you with armor wherewith to go 
out and meet a striving world. In your societies you 
bring this armor into use. By the offerings of the 
pen and of the stage, you prove it, so that your hand 
may be cunning and your heart bold, whenever you 

*9 



218 



ADDRESSES. 



must use it for protection or offense. We say by the 
offerings of the pen and of the stage ; for we presume 
that composition and elocution are the chief objects 
of these associations. And, now, that our office may 
be auxiliary to these objects, we propose eloqzieuce as 
the theme of this address. 

In approaching this theme we seem to enter a 
boundless field. The mind, wandering over it, glances 
at sp many interesting scenes that it is reluctant to 
stay at any single point. Here curiosity may indulge 
in the luxury of speculation ; here philosophy may 
revel in the sweets of analysis ; and from hence genius 
may rise and scale the heavens, and, like Prometheus, 
glow amid the luster of their fires. In such a field 
we are liable to wander. We will, therefore, assume 
some guard of speech, and confine ourselves within 
assigned limits. These limits shall embrace this one 
inquiry, What constitutes the orator? 

Many excellencies combine to form the orator. 
Some of these excellencies are of spontaneous growth, 
others are produced by cultivation. 

First. Nattire must have done a work for the orator 
which none but Nature can perform. She must have 
dealt bountifully with his mind. She must have en- 
riched it with the power of vigorous thought, and with 
a susceptibility to sudden and deep emotion. This 
power does not belong to every mind. Undoubtedly 
it is often possessed where it is never developed. 
The elements of intellectual greatness are concealed 
in many minds like treasures of gold beneath the solid 
earth. Yet there are millions whose mental consti- 
tutions are weak and universally impoverished. Mind 



ELOQUENCE. 



219 



rises in the attributes of excellence, by nice and im- 
perceptible gradations, from the weakest to the 
strongest ; from the walks of groveling idiocy to the 
sublime elevations, where godlike genius dwells. 
Eloquence flourishes upon the high grounds. It 
loves the lofty elevations. 

But, the orator must be susceptible to sudden mid 
deep emotion. He must have, in some degree, the fire 
and frenzy of the poet. His soul must have nerves 
as well as sinews ; for what is strength without ex- 
citement ? Many a giant mind moves so sluggishly 
and gracelessly as to display, like Fal staff, nothing 
but a deformed and loathsome bulkiness. To a mind 
always quiet, resting, like stagnant waters, in undis- 
turbed repose, what avails Achillean strength ? Did 
a slumbering Achilles ever win a victory? The ora- 
tor must possess not only strength, but ardors, fierce 
(not ferocious) as the renovated fury which "stretched 
the mighty Hector on the plain." He must seem all 
sense, and yet all reason ; all impulse, yet all intellect. 
In a word, thought and passion must mingle in his 
soul like glass and fire in the Apocalyptic vision. 

Second. Thus gifted by Nature, the orator must de- 
vote himself. He must diligently cultivate his art ; 
for eloquence is art. We often hear of Natures ora- 
tors. It is true that Nature has her orators ; yet they 
are not hers as some suppose. They are hers, like 
seeds and "soils, which by culture afford delicious 
fruits. There may be fruit without culture, but much 
of it will be poisonous or bitter. Without cultivation 
there can not be a garden of wholesome fruits and 
fragrant flowers, arranged with exquisite taste and 



220 



ADDRESSES. 



skill. Eloquence is like blending the beauties of the 
well-cultivated garden with the magnificence of mount- 
ain scenery. Nature gives birth to orators, and cul- 
tivation rears them. 

This cultivation is received in the pursuit of science. 
Of the sciences, some are less, and some more useful, 
to train the mind for eloquent discourse. 

We invite your attention to some particulars. 

i. The orator must be familiar with the power of lan- 
guage. Language may be considered the tool of his 
trade. By this he works up the materials of thought, 
and prepares them for the public mind. He must 
therefore ascertain the structure, the force, and the 
most effectual use of this instrument. There are two 
ways to do it. One is by reading. There are many 
productions of the pen which display most forcibly 
the power of words, in their various combinations of 
taste and beauty. By a critical perusal of these writ- 
ings, one may learn what the power of language is, 
and' by what construction it acquires the utmost har- 
mony and strength. 

And here, we conceive, is the value of Roman and 
Grecian literature. The ancient classics are said to 
contain an inimitable beauty and fire, which can not 
be infused into their translations, nor exhibited in 
modern composition. If this be so, then let the ora- 
tor — if possible — approach them, and inspire his gen- 
ius with their utmost charms and ardors. But let him 
not overlook the beauties of our vernacular classics, 
in his enthusiastic devotion to those of buried tongues. 
Let him study our own orators and poets with at least 
half the zeal of his soul, and let him learn to admire 



ELOQUENCE. 



221 



them. Should he in his juvenile admiration of Ho- 
mer and Virgil, or Demosthenes and Cicero, learn to 
despise Milton and Burke ; should he come to believe 
that the beauties of song and the charms of eloquence 
are exotics of other climes, which can not grow on 
our own poor soil, his classic lore will prove his mis- 
fortune. It will serve merely to expose mental weak- 
nesses, which otherwise might have remained con- 
cealed. We should wander throuo'h fields of ancient 
literature, as Peter of Russia visited other kingdoms ; 
not blindly to admire every thing foreign, but to ex- 
amine impartially, select what is excellent, and trans- 
fer it to enrich and embellish our own patrial domains. 

But reading is not the only means of becoming ac- 
quainted with the power of language. Composition, 
both extempore and elaborate, is equally efficacious. 
Extempore composition helps to a ready and flowing 
utterance, which is all important to the orator. It 
renders the invention of words, the construction of 
sentences, and the arrangement of thoughts, rapid 
and unembarrassed. But elaborate effort is necessary 
to the formation of a perfect style, and to the exhibi- 
tion of rich conceptions. Those splendid orators of 
antiquity, whose productions are so enchanting and 
overpowering, were probably skillful in unpremedi- 
tated discourse. But how did they acquire such skill ? 
They trained their minds by the most finished efforts 
of the pen, to reach far, search deep, rise high, until 
they were perfectly familiar with the profoundest 
depths and the loftiest heights, and there seemed most 
at home. By writing, they accustomed themselves to 
clothe their richest conceptions and most subtle argu- 



222 



ADDRESSES. 



ments in a diction admirably correct and graceful. 
Language, suitable to apparel the loftiest musings of 
their lofty minds, became to them almost spontaneous ; 
but it became so by the toil of years. Let no one ex- 
pect to imitate their success, unless he consent to 
copy their labors. 

Whoever would use a fascinating style with grace- 
ful ease must resort to the pen. He who never 
writes will never learn to use language with delicate 
precision and captivating effect. He will burden his 
discourses with superfluous words and trifling repe- 
titions. He will exhibit no uniform style, but will 
play all characters by turns. Prose and poetry, com- 
edy and tragedy, short, long, and every other meter, 
will strangely adorn his discourse, as the mixed colors 
did the garment of the persecuted youthful patriarch. 
Whoever, then, would employ language with its ut- 
most force for popular persuasion, let him read — let 
him speak — but, above all, let him write. 

2. The orator must cultivate some acquaintance with 
Nature. It were well that this acquaintance be pro- 
found, such as is commonly called philosophy. Yet 
there is something more essential than philosophy 
itself. The orator must be accustomed to look on 
Nature with a poetic, rather than a philosophic eye. 
He must gaze on her external forms with high admi- 
ration, though he should despise her concealed 
charms. For on all the face of Nature are the colors 
(if we may so speak) in which he must continually 
dip his pencil as he sketches the forms of truth. 

Truth is apprehended by the aid of the senses, and 
Nature is the principal mirror by which the forms of 



ELOQUENCE. 



223 



'truth are reflected to the soul. The orator, there- 
fore, must be familiar with creation, and must be able 
to challenge creation's homage. In its serene and 
terrific aspects, it must subserve a twofold purpose. It 
must first inspire the orator himself, and then be his 
talisman to others. When the ray-glit lights the 
dawn, or evening blushes in the west, he must gaze 
till the waxing or waning glory inspires his soul with 
enthusiastic transports. He must hang, like a senti- 
nel, on the skirts of wrathful tempests till the genius 
of glooms and storms takes possession of his soul. 
On every object, fair or deformed, insignificant or glo- 
rious, he must be able to lay his hand, and wreathe 
it into forms of beauty, or of terror, and send it forth 
to minister to his will. He must catch every token 
from Nature by which she offers enchanting imagery 
to shadow forth in livelier colors, or more alluring 
forms, some hated, or some neglected, truth. He 
must wait on all her movements with a listening ear 
and a watchful eye. He must sail with her floods, 
and career with her storms. He must move with her 
swift-winged lightnings, and sport with her earthquake 
terrors. In a word, he must call the universe his 
own, and must prove the heritage his, by the seizin 
of it. The sun, moon, and stars must pay him obei- 
sance, or man will never bow down before him. 

And he must not only be familiar with Nature in 
her mute and inanimate forms, but he must, above all, 
be intimate with him whom Heaven has constituted 
Nature's lord. 

3. He must therefore be acquainted with man, as a 
being of thought, of purpose, of passion. He is to 



224 



ADDRESSES. 



operate on man as the subject of conviction and per- 
suasion. In this vocation he must use all the delicate 
machinery of the soul. He must touch it familiarly, 
as the breeze does the chords of the harp ; yet, skill- 
fully, as the cunning hand modulates the tones of the 
organ. And can he do this so as to wake up music 
in the soul, and avoid all discord there, unless he 
know the structure and power of the instrument ? 
It is impossible. He may indeed rouse its peal ; but 
it will not be a peal of melting harmony. He will do 
violence to the sacred powers of the soul. He will 
rudely assail what angels would approach with awe. 
He will lay a careless hand upon that altar of the 
affections, which the Son of God breathes upon with 
deep emotion. He will, like Satan in Paradise, rouse 
discord among the moral elements. If his efforts 
wake some spirit-stirring strains, whose casual dia- 
pason is like a song of heaven, their cadence will be 
like the fall of Lucifer from heaven to hell. 

Let him who would be eloquent, ascertain by dili- 
gent consciousness his own susceptibilities to the 
impress of truth, in all its exhibitions, whether for 
conviction, entertainment, or reformation. For this, 
let him live at home, and only visit abroad. Let him 
spare time from all other books, to read attentively 
the volume within. Let him enter not merely the 
vestibule, or outer courts, but the most secret cham- 
bers of the soul. Let him penetrate its profound 
retreats and survey the fountains of thought and pas- 
sion. Let him learn to unlock these fountains, by 
words which shall be to them like the prophet's rod 
to the smitten rock. Let him by the enchantment 



ELOQUENCE. 



225 



of his invocation draw forth from these fountains, 
sympathies, pure as the joys, and beneficent as the 
ministry of angels. The orator must not only study 
the susceptibilities of the human mind, but he must 
also ascertain the peculiarities of his own mental con- 
stitution, that he may husband it discreetly, and suit 
his efforts to his genius. 

God, in the dispensations of nature as well as of 
providence, varies his gifts. Behold the vast variety 
of his works. The worlds which sail in silent majesty 
through the heavens, are not equal in magnitude, 
period, and circumstance. Each of the several re- 
gions of the earth presents features peculiar to itself, 
and distinguishing it from every other region. Look 
at the animal tribes around you, and observe their 
generic, their specific, and their individual peculiari- 
ties. Survey the human family. It is composed of 
millions on millions, all differing in voice, complexion, 
or feature, so that your friends can select you at a 
glance from the swarming population of any city of 
the world. 

God, who delights in such variety, has impressed it 
also on the human mind. This is indicated by the 
fruits and records of its toils. In the fine arts, each 
master has a style peculiar to himself, apparent either 
in deeper or in lighter shades of difference, which the 
eye of a connoisseur hastily detects, and ascribes with 
confidence to the hand which wrought it. So it is 
with the productions of the pen. They are the pic- 
tures of thought, and' vary like the features of the 
human countenance. 

Look into our best English authors, and you will 



226 



ADDRESSES. 



be charmed not only with the beauties of each, but 
also by that variety of excellencies which combine 
in them as a whole. What a trio is that, to go no 
farther, which is composed of Addison, Goldsmith, 
and Johnson ! Each has reared a world of his own, 
grouped them in sweet proximity, and resigned them 
to the dominion of different graces, whose names are 
Beauty, Simplicity, and Dignity. 

To you, young gentlemen, who take your walks 
on classic ground, this mental variety is displayed in 
striking forms. You witness it in scenes which rise 
before you like fairy worlds, by the incantations of the 
hoary Muse. And, in the languages of Homer and 
of Horace, the pictures of thought are so true to the 
originals, that their resemblances and differences are 
more readily perceived. 

The sacred writings evince this variety of mind. 
Inspiration itself has respected and sustained it. 
The Spirit so " moved the holy men of old," as to 
impress on its productions the marks of their own 
genius. Their language flows in striking variations, 
like the air now stirring with tremulous emotion, 
now careering in the breeze, and now raging in the 
whirlwind and the storm. 

Consult its histories, prophecies, and songs of de- 
votion, and you will seem to be passing through a 
region of ever-changing views ; some tame and fair 
like a verdant plain, others wild and magnificent as 
mountain scenery ; some deep and obscure as the 
soundings of the ocean, others clear as the unclouded 
meridian. In a word, the sacred writings not only 
display, like nature, the energy of the Spirit which 



ELOQUENCE. 



227 



produced them, but also, as a garden the taste of the 
cultivator, the genius which wrought them into a 
record of Jehovah's will. The harps of Moses and 
David, of Solomon and Heman, of Asaph and Jedu- 
thun, were tuned in heaven, and set to the praises 
of its Eternal King ; but the style of their perform- 
ances exhibits a variety as manifest and charming as 
the aspects of the heavens. 

How comes this variety in the pictured thoughts 
of men ? It is to be traced to an original peculiarity 
in each mental constitution. Habits, resulting from 
education, contribute something toward it ; but to the 
Creator, who has wrought so variously in the physical 
conformation of all things, we must chiefly ascribe it. 
He enriches the fields of thought with many different 
soils, adapted to fruits as various as Paradise pro- 
duced ; then commissions us to rear such fruit as is 
congenial with the soil of our own minds. He gives 
to some a ready and clear perception ; to some pa- 
tience for slow but sure investigation ; to some the 
power of accurate comparison ; to some a memory 
capacious as the ocean ; and to some an imagination 
fervid as the sunbeams, and lofty as the heavens 
which they lighten and adorn. {Coram exemplis Clar- 
is simis) 

These are the soils of mind. We must ascertain 
the adaptation of that which Heaven assigns to our 
own care and culture. We must " know ourselves!' 
For this, we must accomplish the analysis of our own 
minds. Then we shall perceive how to commence 
and carry on the work of mental improvement. Un- 
acquainted with ourselves, we may labor to develop 



228 



ADDRESSES. 



some faculty which was deformed and stinted at its 
birth, and which no pains of ours can mold to grace- 
ful forms, and quicken to lively action, in the pursuit 
or display of truth. 

Self-knowledge surveys the powers of the mind, 
and graduates them according to their strength and 
value. Then, if one be ambitious of the crown of or- 
atory, he can cultivate the most healthy, robust facul- 
ties, and set them in striking attitudes before the 
public eye. And be assured, young gentlemen, that 
one may hold a princely rank among the orators, with 
a mind enfeebled in some, if it but abound in the 
wealth of other faculties. 

The greatest orators have not been men of uni- 
versal, but of partial gifts. They happily discerned 
the course which Nature pointed out to them, and, re- 
signing themselves to Nature's guidance, attempted 
little else but to contrive how aspiring their flight 
could be, in the direction which she pointed them. 
They were wise. No course can succeed other than 
that which Nature dictates. Its discovery, like that 
of the instrument which guides the navigator, must 
go before the first step of the aspirant. Self-knowl- 
edge will guide to that discovery. 

We repeat it, therefore, whoever is ambitious of the 
honors of oratory, must live at home. The voice of 
Nature to him can be heard nowhere else. If he read 
nothing more, let him read his own soul. Let him 
search the recesses of thought and passion. Let him 
be to himself what, to the operator, that is, which, 
having furtively wrested from the emboweled grave, 
he half worshiping regards, till all its palpable ma- 



ELOQUENCE. 



229 



chinery is pictured on his mind and treasured in his 
memory. Let his soul be to himself a specimen, in 
clear exposure, of all that by nature, or by nurture, 
enters into the constitution of the soul. Let him 
watch its active and passive states, and detect the in- 
fluences, minute and gross, which change, suspend, 
and produce those states. Without a knowledge of 
man, as a being of thought t of purpose, of passion, elo- 
quence is possible ; but it is possible only as an acci- 
dent of speech. It is not then, like sunshine, a strong 
and steady light, diffused to charm the world ; but 
rather like a meteor, which glares an instant through 
the darkness, then veils the offended eye in tenfold 
deeper gloom. 

Third. The orator must be winning in zvord and in ■ 
manner. Eloquence is called "the art of persuasion." 
We persuade the unwilling or the unbelieving. Surely 
this is an arduous task. To convert men to new opin- 
ions, much more to induce their adoption of new rules 
of life and conduct, requires the absence of all that is 
repulsive, and the presence of all that is attractive, in 
thought, in arrangement, in the structure of argument, 
and in impassioned appeal. 

To display the attractive and avoid the repulsive 
are the positive and negative virtues of oratory. Let 
us consider its negative virtues. These are much 
more difficult to acquire, and are more seldom met 
with than the positive. In order to avoid the re- 
pulsive, the orator must guard himself with the re- 
flection, that his hearers, as well as himself, possess 

" Internal powers ; 
Active and strong, and feelingly alive 



230 



ADDRESSES. 



To each fine impulse : a discerning sense 
Of decent and sublime ; with quick disgust 
From things deformed, or disarranged, or gross." 

He must cautiously approach these powers internal. 
He must salute them with sounds softer than the 
lute, and yet overpowering as the storm upon the 
mountains. All his efforts must agree with nature, 
must accord with circumstances, and must harmonize 
with one another. In the selection of his theme he 
must consult the occasion ; in his style of composi- 
tion he must consult the theme ; in his manner he 
must consult the style of composition. In these there 
must be an amiable concord, or the incongruity will 
offend some "fine impulse." 

But let us descend to some particulars, and mention 
the more glaring vices which it is especially important 
for you, young gentlemen, to avoid. 

i. And above all, if you would win the praise of 
eloquence, you must avoid a practice which may well 
be called the literary vice of the age ; we mean plagia- 
rism. This is the easily besetting sin of more than 
one in ten who write and speak in the service of the 
public. Am I too charitable ? From regard to truth 
I can say no less, and salvo pudore, I would say no 
more. Be assured, however, that no one who abuses 
the public ear, by pouring into it stolen sounds, how- 
ever sweet, will fail to provoke its " quick disgust," 
and fall under the censure of its discerning sense. 
Let the young aspirant of the forum begin his career 
with a perfect abhorrence of this literary larceny. 
Had I a young friend whom I suspected of a thing 
so foul, and withal so surely fatal to his prospects, I 



ELOQUENCE. 



231 



could wish to be his Hamilcar ; and plagiarism should 
be the execrable foe against which I would exact his 
oaths. 

2. Another thing to be avoided with equal diligence 
is, affectation. This is akin to plagiarism. They love 
each other's company, and, like brethren, dwell to- 
gether in harmony. Yet their habits are dissimilar. 
This preys, hyena like, on the relics of the dead, 
That, like the monkey, catches another's living voice, 
with all its intonations, and mimics all his motions, 
even to his very jerk of head and blink of eye. Affec- 
tation ! It is offensive as hypocrisy. Avoid it, or re- 
sign all hopes of popular approbation and applause. 
No excellence, no combination of excellencies can in 
public estimation redeem from its curse. It is known 
to be so eminently hateful, that it is indulged only in 
supposed concealment. But it can not be concealed. 
A critic of fine taste instantly discerns it, even in the 
voice and manner of an entire stranger, whatever may 
be his efforts to conceal it. It is a species of counter- 
feiting which needs no witness to expose it. Nature 
herself abhors it. It offers violence to her well- 
arranged economy, by which she varies the shades 
of human character; by which, as our common 
mother, she impresses on each child its proper feat- 
ures, as priestess of her family weds us to the gift, 
and forbids to put asunder what she has joined to- 
gether. If- we rudely prosecute it, she may permit a 
divorce, but will take a just revenge, by marking on 
our visage the signs of our incontinence. 

"But what," it may be asked, " is the design of 
declamation, if it do not aim to repudiate nature?" 



232 



ADDRESSES. 



We answer, its design is to convert us back to Nature, 
from whom we had eloped, and make us her disciples. 
It is an error to suppose that a debut upon the stage 
is made in Nature's style, and that its errors are her 
vices. Compare the awkward dullness of the young 
declaimer with his eloquent vehemence amidst ex- 
citing sports, when with all his soul on fire he rouses 
his young playmates, and you will see that Nature is 
the voice and soul of eloquence. Reject Nature, then, 
for an affected imitation of that which Nature never 
made you, and you may indeed amuse the public 
mind, but the amusement of that mind will be de- 
light in the ridiculous. 

3. Another error of no small magnitude is, excessive 
and violent action. Action is emphasis addressed to 
the eye. To render it impressive, it must be both 
rare and graceful. If it be displayed in every sen- 
tence, it becomes insipid and offensive. To vary the 
river scenery, an occasional rush of waters is delight- 
ful ; but a current generally placid is what imparts 
interest to the cataract. It were better that the 
speaker should never raise a hand than keep it in an 
eternal rage of action. Shakspeare warns the players 
''not to o'erstep the modesty of Nature." Shall the 
stage regard the modesty of Nature, and every thing 
else abuse or deride it ? Or has Nature now fallen 
into her dotage, lost her charms, and cast away the 
modesty of her youth ? This we might suspect from 
the treatment she receives, when a speaker displays 
to his audience a variety of jerks which threaten 
the violent dislocation of his members; when, in a 
thousand graceful acute angles, he apes the zigzag 



ELOQUENCE. 



233 



lightning, and seems to be manfully warring with the 
elements, and struggling to expel them from sur- 
rounding space. 

This raging manner is never, or scarcely ever, com- 
mendable. No height of passion can sanction it. 
The deepest emotions of the soul are not thus dis- 
played to advantage. Such emotions should appear 
to the audience under an apparent effort at conceal- 
ment. They should seem to be partially exposed, be- 
cause concealment was impossible. For this the 
countenance, and especially the eye, must become the 
reporter of the passions. 

The most moving strains of eloquence to which 
man ever listened were accompanied with a few grace- 
ful gestures ; but music, like heaven, flowed from the 
lips, while passion glowed in every feature, like the 
glare of fervid lightning on the face of the cloud. 

4. The last error which we shall notice at present 
is, a boisterous delivery. This certainly is a foe to 
eloquence. It mistakes human nature. It is intended 
as an evidence of deep emotion ; but it is rather an 
evidence of the want of it. Slight emotion is garru- 
lous and boisterous. But when it becomes deep and 
fervid, and is permitted to flow off in Nature's own 
channels, it is not in a way that causes loud explo- 
sions. " He was so affected that he could not speak," 
is a hint from the peasant to the philosopher. Bois- 
terous speaking is sometimes practiced to raise emo- 
tion in the speaker ; but it quenches rather than 
kindles up the flame. It is every way hurtful. If 
there be passion, it exhausts it ; if there be not, it 
prevents it. As an affectation of it, it is taken for 

20 



234 



ADDRESSES. 



hypocrisy, and arms the hearer with an invincible 
resolution to resist all argument and appeal. 

Shakspeare insists, that in the " very whirlwind 
of his passion, the speaker must temper its expres- 
sions into smoothness." In this he gave utterance to 
nature. It offends the "very soul to hear a robust- 
ous fellow tear a passion into tatters." The passions, 
as well as the person, appear to best advantage under 
some concealment. Reveal but little, and it will be 
more winning than entire exposure. A boisterous 
delivery is unfriendly to all the attributes of oratory. 
It breeds graceless action, multiplies words, sub- 
tracts thoughts, confuses argument, and, in a word, 
begets and cherishes almost every vice both of com- 
position and delivery. 

These, young gentlemen, are errors of the day. 
Our public speakers have sought the positive graces 
of elocution, but have taken no great pains to avoid 
its grossest vices. It should be the first business of 
a speaker to correct the faults of his delivery. In 
this he should labor with the patience of Demos- 
thenes. By early and persevering effort he may do 
it ; but, if once confirmed, his defects will be incura- 
ble. Either of these vices tends to obscure the gen- 
eral merit of a speaker. How much more when they 
all unhappily combine ? Then they are sure to depress 
the most aspiring, and consign the loftiest musings 
to oblivion. Recollect, young gentlemen, that sad 
examples are a warning to the wise. So let them be 
to you. Should you be at any loss for such examples, 
you may resort to the forum, or the popular assem- 
bly. In either you will find a host of " brilliant ora- 



ELOQUENCE. 



235 



tors" They come up, like the frogs of Egypt, on the 
face of all the land, 

" And music make of melancholy sort." 

Nor are they, as some affirm, only from field, and 
wood, and mountain glen. They are also from high 
and urbane walks. They issue from the very haunts 
of science, either by her sickly habit of untimely 
births, or by the abuse of the sound constitution 
which she gave them. And these are worthy of a 
double condemnation. Science did not frown on 
them, and foreclose their entrance into her domain. 
They wandered through her fairy walks and fruitful 
fields, proudly bearing back the spoils of the chase. 
Yet, for any good or pleasure they afford the world, 
they might as well have gathered honey from the gar- 
den flowers, and buried it beneath a mass of Augean 
treasures. 

As to the positive graces of oratory, we have no 
time to dwell upon them. We have already said, 
that the art of persuasion embraces whatever is at- 
tractive in thought, in arrangement, in the structure 
of argument, and in direct appeal to the passions. 
But this is not all. It requires, also, that the orator 
bear along with him a certain grace of manner, which, 
going before the words he utters, will act the part of 
a fascinating herald, to secure those words a well-dis- 
posed audience. And then, that no disappointment 
follow, this winning heraldry of manner must be sus- 
tained by that which comes after, namely, an utter- 
ance full of melody, rounding out periods whose rise 
and cadence shall come upon the soul like the richest 



236 



ADDRESSES. 



swell of music from a master-hand. We are aware 
that some affect to despise these graces. But can 
they teach the world to despise them ? They may 
as soon teach it to despise that which is beauty 
to the eye or music to the ear. They may as 
soon teach it to abhor all that is enchanting in the 
aspects of nature. They may as soon convert it to 
the sentiment that, in a universe of beauty, there is 
nothing to charm; that not only the earth, but the 
heavens, decorated by the finger of God, display noth- 
ing worthy to be admired; that its deep, blue firma- 
ment, where the stars repose like diamonds in their 
airy ocean bed, where the gentle moon, half unveil- 
ing her thoughtful face, seems to gaze and wonder at 
the scene — that all this is a concave gloom, uncomely 
and offensive to the averted eye of mortals. To 
despise the lighter graces of oratory is to despise 
human nature. It is to despise in immortal mind that 
which still retains the image of its Author. 

But, after all, let us not mistake that for eloquence, 
in which these graces adorn nothing; but, like fur- 
niture at sale, are collected into heaps for mere 
exposure. Speech is to the mind an interpreter. It 
is a channel through which, in fluent and refluent 
tides, we yield and take that which streams forth 
from the fountains of thought. 

Eloquence implies ornamented speech. But there 
must be a foundation for ornament — a scion to sup- 
port it. There must be wholesome and delicious 
fruits, around which may tastefully cluster the efflo- 
rescent charms of graceful diction. It is eloquence 
when these flowery graces skirt and adorn some afflu- 



ELOQUENCE. 



237 



ent stream, current with waters of living truth. For 
this enamel attracts thousands to those waters, who 
came only to regale their senses, but stay to refresh 
their souls. 

Lastly. We say to you, young gentlemen, and affirm 
it with emphasis, whoever would win the meed of 
eloquence must guard the moral habits of the soul. 
And for two reasons ; 

1. Because moral purity tends to liberalize, if not 
to invigorate, the powers of the mind. Vice im- 
poses restraints upon the mind, and embarrasses its 
efforts. It is like a weight which increases the fric- 
tion of a machine, without adding in the least to the 
power which impels it. Moral purity exempts the 
soul from these restraints. Minds of equal vigor are 
reduced to a disparity by subjection to different moral 
influences. Two spirits commencing their existence 
at the same time, under contrary moral influences, 
would both rise, but would rise unequally in the scale 
of intelligence. The pure would ascend with unembar- 
rassed and rapid flight. The impure would advance 
with painful struggles between the powers of the 
mind and the passions of the heart ; the former press- 
ing after truth, and the latter boldly counteracting its 
pursuit. 

. 2. The moral habits of the soul should be guarded, 
also, that the mind may be directed to benevolent 
aims, and impelled to beneficent action. . Without 
such aims the power of persuasion is malignant as a 
pestilence. The eloquence of vice is an overwhelm- 
ing curse. Eloquence is a weapon too powerful to 
be intrusted to a hand which is moved by the impulse 



238 



ADDRESSES. 



of base or selfish passions. In such hands, it has 
already wrought sad impressions on society. Some 
of these impressions still remain, in dark and san- 
guinary characters, not to be erased until the grand 
millennium shall renovate the world. The eloquence 
of vice is not like the settled harmony of Nature, 
fair and sublime, yet beneficent and grateful. It is 
like the horrors of the earthquake, which shows that 
the order of Nature is disturbed, and threatens her 
terrified children with overwhelming ruin. 

Young gentlemen, your position this day certifies 
to us that you seek — some at the bar, some in the 
Senate, and some, perhaps, in a more sacred calling — 
how to sway the passions of men by pouring out to 
them the " honeyed words of eloquence." For this 
you have sought access to these halls, and their pre- 
siding genius has bid you welcome. Your induction 
places much within your reach. But beware ! Your 
young ambition will be sadly disappointed unless you 
devote yourselves. Every hour you must patiently 
solicit the oracles, and suffer the admonitions of that 
benignant Alma Mater from whom you have received 
the adoption of sons. She will conduct you into the 
fields of truth, and expose to you the treasures of 
science. You now stand on the verge of the domain, 
and gaze with rapture on its depths and heights. Go 
all through and survey it. It has riches more abun- 
dant and precious than the ocean. Turn then to your 
cheerful toil. Pursue your way along the paths of 
Science, enter her retreats, and gather up the diamond 
treasures which sparkle around you like the lights 
from eternity. 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



239 



II. 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION* 



Address delivered in Zanesville, Ohio, at the request of the 
Colonization Society, July 4, 1830. 

r I ^HE custom of our nation, for fifty years, invites us 



J- to celebrate the anniversary of our independence. 
We will not neglect those usages of the land, which 
cherish the recollection of virtuous deeds. We will 
not forget our ancestors. The memory of their valor, 
and sufferings, and achievements we will associate in 
our minds with other sentiments equally appropriate 
to this interesting occasion. But the enthusiasm of 
the hour shall not all be wasted in pleasing recollec- 
tions. If possible, we meditate a nobler song. We 
seek a higher service than merely to proclaim the 
praises of the living, or the honors of the dead. 

It is an ignoble generosity which praises illustrious 
virtues, but aspires not to the imitation of illustrious 

* It might be supposed that the circumstances of the negro race in 
this country, having so wonderfully changed since the date of the de- 
livery of this address, its argument might, therefore, be omitted here. 
But the importance of African colonization to African civilization is the 
same now as then. The debt of this nation to Africa is not yet can- 
celed ; and the views of our author on these points, and of the rights 
of the colored race, the evils and wrongs of slavery, the historic merits 
of the address, its admirable logic and style as a model of its kind, 
have determined its publication. The address at the time made a pro- 
found impression, and, by various republications, earned for its author 
a wide popularity. — [Editor. 




240 



ADDRESSES. 



examples. Such praise does not honor the subject 
who receives it ; nor does it grace the sycophant who 
bestows it. This is eminently true when applied to 
the unworthy celebration of heroic achievements on 
this day. For the day itself should be consecrated, 
in commemoration of glorious deliverances by God's 
almighty arm. It is the passover of the land — has 
its Moses and its Pharaoh, its rod of miracles and its 
angel Savior. And shall these be remembered only 
in ostentatious eulogy, or idiotic mirth, or drunken 
revelry ? 

We design holier offerings to the God of our deliv- 
erances ; we wait with worthier praise for those who 
nourished the tree of liberty in this land with their 
blood, and gave us secure repose under its ample 
shade. The occasion is sufficient to inspire us for 
these offerings. For it repeats to us such visions of 
our country's glory, and reveals such scenes of heroic 
bearing in our ancestors as will rouse us to generous 
action, or we are unworthy of our ancestors, and 
basely unfitted to celebrate their illustrious deeds. 

We are aware that ours is not the condition of 
our ancestors, and that we can not imitate their ex- 
ample in all its features. It was theirs to found this 
nation and bleed in its defense. It is ours to enjoy, 
in peaceful quiet, the fruit of their toils, and the pur- 
chase of their sufferings. But did they owe the 
fame and luster of their achievements to circum- 
stances alone, and would similar circumstances impel 
us in the same race of glory? If so, we can make it 
evident ; for we can exhibit our love of country in 
different ways, according to the genius or circum- 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION 



241 



stances of the times upon which we are fallen. But 
even if certain states of society are peculiarly favora- 
ble for patriotic deeds, is it not our felicity to occupy 
one of the favorable periods ? We should say, yes. 

We believe there is a field before us which invites 
us to the most useful and honorable exertions of pa- 
triotism. The system of African colonization is, we 
conceive, with its avowed purposes and probable 
issues, second to no enterprise which brightens the 
pages of our national history. We invite you to ap- 
proach, and briefly survey, this field of magnificent 
enterprise. 

For more than two hundred years this land has 
groaned under a wide-spreading curse, which has 
wasted its strength, marred its beauty, and threat- 
ened its destruction. 

It commenced its blighting influence in 1620, on 
the shores of the Chesapeake. Then and there the 
first cargo of Africans were landed upon our coast, 
and consigned to slavery. Virginia lifted her infant 
voice against it ; but, in defiance of colonial legisla- 
tion, royal influence continued the merciless traffic, 
and crowded our land with this wretched race. At 
the commencement of the Revolution, they amounted 
to half a million of souls. Although, since that pe- 
riod, the slave-trade has not added materially to their 
number, yet, by gradual increase, they are now multi- 
plied to two millions three hundred thousand. They 
are divided into two classes. Two millions of them 
are slaves, and the remainder (three hundred thou- 
sand) are called free. These last are the descendants 

of manumitted slaves, or have been liberated them-. 

21 



242 



ADDRESSES. 



selves by their owners, or by operation of law. Their 
situation is singularly unpleasant. Though they are 
termed free, they are merely not slaves. They enjoy 
none of the nobler immunities of freemen. The laws 
extend protection to their persons and property, but 
they have no voice in the formation or establishment 
of those laws. They are excluded from the right of 
suffrage, and have not, properly, the sacred privilege 
of trial by their peers. Thus they are isolated in a 
land which they are forced to call their home. They 
have no country to love, or to defend. They can 
cherish no patriotic sympathies for a land which 
has forced them upon its soil " to exact their sweat 
with stripes," and then disclaim their social equality 
with frowns of inveterate contempt. They are ex- 
cluded from the operation of some of the weightiest 
motives to honorable and elevated ambition. Those 
worldly objects which are most worthy the pursuit 
of an aspiring mind, are beyond their reach ; and, 
ceasing to aspire, they are sure to sink, in mind and 
morals, till their habits become as profligate as their 
condition is degraded. Such is generally the char- 
acter of our free blacks. There are some exceptions. 
Whenever Religion has erected her altar in their 
hearts, and has kindled the fires of her devotion there, 
they have appeared in all the beauty of a new crea- 
tion, to proclaim the glorious destiny of Africa re- 
deemed. But the charms of piety captivate but few 
of this twice fallen race, while thousands and tens of 
thousands, corrupted and corrupting, burden the 
whole land, and desolate the loveliness of our herit- 
age. What conclusion awaits this mention of the 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



243 



number and character of our free blacks ? Is it not 
the decision of every mind that we have too many 
such among us ? 

We have indeed too many such among us. They 
are the weeds of our soil ; they deface its beauty, ex- 
haust its strength, disgrace its culture ; and, if let 
alone, they soon shall shed their midnight vapor upon 
the scattered fragments of our tree of liberty. But 
they will not be let alone. They are exotics from a 
distant clime, and will be retransplanted to their na- 
tive soil, where genial suns, and seasons, and culture 
shall nourish them into beauty and magnificence. 
There " they shall grow as the lily, and cast forth 
their roots as Lebanon ; their branches shall spread, 
and their beauty shall be as the olive-tree." 

We venture these bold assertions concerning their 
removal, because the work is commenced, and is in 
successful progress. The choicest sons of the re- 
public are combined for its advancement. With a 
Washington at their head, they assembled at the seat 
of Government in 18 16, and formed themselves into 
a Society, which they named the "American Colo- 
nization Society," and established their plans. The 
development of those plans has already put them in 
possession of territory in Western Africa, and planted 
a colony there of 1,500 souls. The colonists are free 
blacks from the United States, and slaves manumitted 
for the express purpose of being sent to Africa. 

It is believed there is now no obstacle to the re- 
moval of the free blacks but such as American be- 
nevolence and enterprise may, with moral certainty, 
overcome. The most serious discouragements are 



244 



ADDRESSES. 



already removed by the exertions of a few choice 
spirits. When the Society commenced its labors 
territory was to be explored and purchased, and col- 
onists were to be sought out, transported, nourished, 
and protected. By them the climate was to be tested, 
the African character developed, and the existence of 
many conceivable causes of success or defeat was to 
be ascertained by the issue of the experiment. But 
these various desiderata of 1816 are now, by the ex- 
ertions of the Society and the favor of Providence, 
wrought into such a tissue of facts that it is savage 
barbarity to slight those exertions, and absolute in- 
fidelity to distrust that Providence. Let us glance at 
some of these facts. 

In 1 82 1 a small tract of land on the western coast 
of Africa, and between it and Montserrado River, and 
another tract bordering on the same river, were pur- 
chased for the contemplated colony. In 1825 a large 
tract was obtained by the colonial agent, extending 
about nine miles on the coast, and an indefinite dis- 
tance into the country. Larger tracts have since 
been obtained to meet the growing and prospective 
wants of the colony ; and they now constitute a spa- 
cious territory, with a sea-coast of almost two hundred 
miles, promising fine commercial advantages, and offer- 
ing to cultivation all the inviting fruits of the tropics. 
The soil is extremely fertile, and is clothed with per- 
petual verdure. The climate is found to be adapted 
to the constitution of the negro race. The town of 
Monrovia, in about six degrees north latitude, was 
represented by Dr. Randal, the late agent, to be as 
healthy as any of our Southern cities, and some of 



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245 



the other towns are even more salubrious still. The 
same gentleman affirmed, " that for two or three 
years not one in forty of the Middle or Southern 
State emigrants had died from change of climate." 

Cowardice itself can not apprehend any inadequacy 
in the means of protection. When Monrovia stood 
alone, and could marshal but thirty untried warriors, 
it was attacked by five thousand natives. They were 
defeated and driven to the woods. The colony has 
now six uniform volunteer companies, some companies 
of militia, twenty pieces of ordnance, and one thou- 
sand stand of arms. These, with the offer of auxil- 
iary operations from several thousand friendly natives, 
will place them beyond the reach of danger or ma- 
terial annoyance from native hostility. 

The development of the African character has, thus 
far, been satisfactory and encouraging. The emi- 
grants know how to estimate their novel privileges. 
They industriously seek, and rapidly acquire, the in- 
tellectual and moral endowments befitting their im- 
proved condition. They are ambitious of education, 
and are upon a strife to secure its blessings to their 
children. They tell us in their own circular of 1827 
that they have six schools, and that every child and 
youth among them is furnished with appropriate 
means of improvement. They engage with success 
in commercial pursuits, and exhibit capacity for all 
the details of business. They exercise the right of 
suffrage, sit upon juries, and fill most of the govern- 
ment offices with ability and dignity. 

It is declared that their morals are of an elevated 
character, and would form a worthy example for 



246 



ADDRESSES. 



almost any community. They reverence the institu- 
tions of religion, and many of them are piously 
devoted to its interests. Their clergy minister at 
the altars of their worship in such a manner as does 
honor to the ordinances of God's house. 

These are some of the facts which attest the fea- 
sibility of the Colonization scheme. What more is 
necessary to assure us of its favorable issue ? Two 
things more are necessary. The free blacks must 
volunteer to go to Africa as colonists, and the people 
of the United States must volunteer their exertions 
to send them there. 

So far there has been no want of volunteers for the 
colony. There is even a supply on hand for some 
time to come. It now looks as though they would 
always be in waiting for a passage out of the country. 
If the whole three hundred thousand could be invited 
to Liberia to-day doubtless many of them would 
refuse to go. They know so little of Liberia, and 
are so ignorant of their own real condition here, that 
they would stay and beggar out their own unprivi- 
leged lives in this (to them) inhospitable land. But 
give them light, and then invite them to Liberia, and 
they will escape in armies from the oppressions of 
this country. Light they will obtain as the work 
progresses. They will themselves be curious to know 
something of a subject which is associated with the 
history of their departed and distant brethren. They 
will inquire concerning Liberia, and will ask why 
men of their own color and degree have gone so far 
to find a home ! The answers to these questions will 
explain to them their condition here. They will learn 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



247 



that manumission and the name of freemen have not 
ennobled them with the rank and immunities of citi- 
zenship. When they discover their degradation, they 
will soon fall sick, and will pine, like a child, for its 
absent mother. They will look over the water for 
that parent land, which spreads forth her arms to the 
setting sun, and beckons her long-lost children to 
her bosom, and they will then crowd our coast at 
every port, and entreat us to send them to their long- 
deserted home. Such will be the effect of teaching 
them the miseries of their condition here, and of 
making them acquainted with the more prosperous 
fortunes of their brethren in Africa. There is no 
occasion for such instructions at present. It will be 
time enough to explain to them their unhappy situ- 
ation when we are in a condition to offer them relief. 
Funds are now wanted to transport multitudes away 
who are impatient to be gone. At the last annual 
meeting of the Parent Society a thousand of them 
knocked at the door of the council chamber, and 
begged to be remembered as candidates for Liberia. 
These facts plainly intimate that the free blacks will 
consent to leave the country as fast as the means of 
emigration can be furnished them. 

But emigrants are offered from another source, and 
it is from a source that gives new character to the 
enterprise, and renders it supremely interesting : we 
mean from the manumission of slaves. The Colo- 
nization Society meditates no interference with the 
subject of slavery, but it seems slavery meditates 
some interference with the subject of colonization. 
And shall the Society be blamed, or its plans faulted 



248 



ADDRESSES. 



for this ? What shall the Society do, when the planter 
comes with his hundred vassals, and offers to burst 
their fetters if its charities can furnish them a pas- 
sage from the country ? Two thousand slaves are 
now waiting in this very attitude. And who knows 
but twice two thousand more will be ready to follow 
by the time these sail? Many are bold enough to 
expect it. And some in good repute among us for 
wisdom even prophesy the annihilation of slavery 
among us by these means. This, indeed, would be a 
very unexpected result to many. But Divine Provi- 
dence delights in operations which human wisdom 
has not forecast to anticipate. And Divine Provi- 
dence may make the efforts of this Society to remove 
some thousands of a wandering race the means of re- 
deeming millions from bondage, and of erecting them 
into a prosperous nation. Indeed, the unfolding pur- 
poses of Heaven now teach to look for this. Its ac- 
complishment will scarcely fail through the frowns 
of Providence, for it is in obedience to God's holy 
commandments that we liberate the captive. We do 
not believe it will fail through the avarice of slave- 
holders. These, many of them, hold their slaves from 
necessity rather than from choice. They once com- 
menced the work of manumission. But difficulties 
arose. They cast their bondmen into a society un- 
like themselves in origin and character. That so- 
ciety rejected them from its communion. It was 
found impossible to make of two bloods one nation. 
The mingling of the double race excited the nobler 
portion to an invidious display of its pre-eminence, 
and spurred the "baser sort" into a contest for 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



249 



equality. This gave an unpleasant attitude to society. 
The liberated blacks grew more degraded, and be- 
came disorderly and vicious in the extreme. They 
corresponded with the slaves from necessity, taught 
them to be idle, discontented, and refractory, de- 
coyed them from their plantations, and facilitated 
their escape from their owners. The morals of the 
whites, too, were corrupted ; for, although men are 
often ashamed to copy the virtues of inferiors, yet vice 
is no respecter of bloods, and spreads its contagion 
from the lowest to the highest walks of life. 

These evils increased as manumission progressed, 
and finally became so apparent that the slave-holders 
were brought to a pause. They began to suspect it 
was uncharitable to cast their degraded vassals into the 
mass of society, to leaven the nation with their deprav- 
ity. And they perceived that their freedmen gained 
nothing by change of condition, "but rather grew 
worse." Their liberation proved to be a mere baptism 
for change of name, without the fruition of a solitary 
privilege befitting the ceremony of the sacrament. 
They were acquainted with the evils of slavery, but 
they saw those evils might be aggravated ; and they 
concluded that manumission was exchanging a single 
for a double curse. They ceased therefore to medi- 
tate the liberation of their slaves, and they thought 
it was in obedience to the voice of duty and human- 
ity. But they now, as formerly, seek an opportunity 
to yield their slaves to some better condition, which 
will not interfere with the prosperity and happiness 
of society. That opportunity is offered them by the 
colonization scheme. And many of them are em- 



250 



ADDRESSES. 



bracing it with a philanthropy worthy of imitation. 
Should the work prosper, every popular objection to 
emancipation will be removed, and this, it is believed, 
will bring in its train the enfranchisement of every " vil- 
lain " in our country. Some will manumit their slaves 
from a sense of religious obligation ; for Christianity 
commands us to do for others what we might justly 
claim from them. Some will do it from a sense of 
social obligation. They hold that " all men are created 
equal, and are possessed of certain inalienable rights, 
among which is liberty!' And they will at last sub- 
mit to the obligations of their creed, by yielding up 
this right to their wretched bondmen. 

Some will act the same part from motives of pa- 
triotism. The prosperity and safety of their country 
demand the sacrifice ; and they will cast away the 
scourge which threatens that country with desolation. 

At last, a selfish policy will finish the good work. 
The slave States bordering on the free States will 
note the happier condition of their neighbors, and 
will hasten to adopt their policy, and secure their 
prosperity by dismissing their slaves. The interior 
slave States will then be thrown upon the border, 
will make the same discovery, and pursue the same 
course, till all the States in their several classes shall 
graduate to the same high privileges, and rise to the 
same lofty eminence. 

This may be thought, by some, an unreasonable 
calculation. But it should be remembered, when 
manumission was checked by no legislative restraints, 
Virginia liberated ten thousand slaves in nine years. 
From 1790 to 1800, there was in Maryland an in- 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



251 



crease of twelve thousand free blacks. The general 
increase throughout the States during the same pe- 
riod, was one hundred and eighty-five per centum. 
This was ascribed to emigration. If such was the 
progress of manumission in those embarrassed times, 
when there was no way of delivering the country of 
the nuisance it created, what may not be expected 
when Africa shall wait to embrace her liberated sons, 
and every wave shall offer them a passage to her 
shores? The language of slave-holders may teach us 
what to expect. " Furnish money," says one of them, 
"and means of transportation, and we pledge ourselves 
to furnish you as many slaves as you will colonize." 
" Maryland, it must be expected," says one of her em- 
inent citizens, "will avail herself of her advantages, 
will profit by the lessons she is compelled to learn." 
What lessons? "That a slave State, bordering on a 
free State, need not long continue such," can not 
long continue such. 

These things proclaim the favorable temper of the 
slave States on the subject of emancipation ; and 
may satisfy us, that the annihilation of slavery will not 
be prevented by the avarice of slave-holders. What, 
then, will prevent it ? Nothing ; unless it be a craven 
heart, in those upon whom the obligation faljs to 
transport the negroes of Africa. 

We believe the United States in their federal ca- 
pacity, are called to this work. Slavery involves the 
nation in one common curse, and one common exer- 
tion should be made to remove it. 

What though the most cruel effects of this curse 
are not every-where apparent? The disease is in 



252 



ADDRESSES. 



the body-politic, though its local ravages have not 
reached all the members. In attempting to cure this 
disease, shall the head say to the members : " You 
have no need of me?" If so; if this national gan- 
grene must be checked without the counsels of the 
capital, the members least affected by the distemper 
must apply themselves to the work. The slave-hold- 
ing States are suffering by the disorder, and are pal- 
sied by its force. They generously offer to submit to 
the amputating instrument, and endure the pain and 
loss of the operation. This is enough for them. It is 
ours to remove the separated members, by transport- 
ing a rejected race from among them. For this pur- 
pose we should soon be ready with a fund of a million 
and a half of dollars annually renewed, to transport and 
colonize seventy thousand negroes every year. In 
something less than one hundred years, this would 
launch the last cargo of blacks from our shores. But 
we are not engaging in these grand operations as 
boldly as is necessary. Our progress should be gov- 
erned by the condition of the colony, and the disposi- 
tion of our black population. But instead of this, we 
are upon an allowance of funds. While the colony 
might safely increase its population five hundred 
per cent, faster than it does, and emigrants might be 
sent out five hundred per cent, faster than they are, 
the Colonization Society can pay no regard to either 
fact, for want of funds. It commands but twenty 
thousand dollars a year, while one hundred thousand 
would be too little for this stage of the business. Yet, 
if one hundred thousand could be raised this year, 
it would be a handsome improvement upon the prac- 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



253 



tice of the last. And can not these be raised in such 
a land, for such a cause, with all the encouragement 
of past success, and with all the inspiration of pro- 
spective triumph? It is less than a penny each if 
divided among the citizens of the republic, and only 
six cents if collected from the adult males. It is a 
small contribution. But it would enable the Colo- 
nization Society to send five thousand poor Afri- 
cans to their own chosen homes. And it would 
also be one step in preparation for giving liberty to 
thousands. Sirs, the spirit of '76 would not sleep 
upon such a theme. It would pledge " life, property , 
and honor," for the execution of a work, so full of 
promise to a needy and suffering race. If that spirit 
has not fled from this land ; if that fire of patriotism 
in the American bosom is as pure and as ardent as 
ever, this cause will triumph. In such a case, the 
assumption of success is only the enunciation of a 
corollary, educed from moral postulates, and axioms, 
and theorems. We need not labor for critical defini- 
tions, or formal diagrams to show it. 

Put us and our cause beside the Revolutionists and 
their cause. Are we and they equal in patriotism ? 
in our respect for the rights of man ? in our regard 
for moral obligations ? and in our intellectual and 
physical capacities ? Is our cause equal to theirs in 
its promise of benefit to the country ? of security to 
human rights? of fulfillment of moral obligation? and 
of accomplishment by the application of the same in- 
tellectual and physical resources? If these questions 
both admit an affirmative answer, then, it is not to 
be denied, our cause will triumph. 



254 



ADDRESSES. 



As to the first question, we think the vanity of the 
times will support, by a very handsome suffrage, the 
equality of the two generations. We will turn our 
attention, therefore, to the second question. Is our 
cause equal to theirs in its promise of good to our coun- 
try f It will be unnecessary for us to point out the 
connection between the American Revolution and the 
prosperity and security of this nation. It is pre- 
sumed that connection is perfectly familiar to this 
assembly. In endeavoring to trace the connection 
between African Colonization and our national in- 
terests, we shall occupy the ground we have already 
assumed, namely, that although the American Colo- 
nization Society has no purpose but the removal of 
our free blacks, yet its labors will, with moral cer- 
tainty, result in the annihilation of slavery. Viewed 
in this light, its success is intimately connected with 
the prosperity and security of our country. 

The prosperity of a country depends — aside from 
political and moral considerations — upon its natural 
advantages, and upon the ability which plans, and the 
energy which executes, enterprises for their develop- 
ment. Other things being equal, agricultural, me- 
chanical, mercantile, and manufacturing interests pros- 
per or decay, according to the measure of intellectual 
or physical energy with which they are fostered. 

Now, will a free and a slave population, numerically 
equal, exercise an equal degree of skill and energy in 
the various businesses of life? What should rouse 
the energies of the slave ? What motive, either of 
selfishness or of duty, should move him to diligence 
in his master's service? He does not cultivate his 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



255 



own soil. He gathers no harvest for himself, nor for 
those whom he loves better than himself. Tyranny 
may scourge him, but this will only lead him to meas- 
ure out his services with a more sparing hand, by 
making the purpose of revenge the rule of that 
measure. Who would not act the same part under 
the same vile bonds? Who would not refuse the 
toils of the race, when sure to be excluded from the 
triumphs of its issues ? The slave's only ambition 
must be to spurn the toils of his degrading servitude. 
What a drawback must this create upon the pros- 
perity of a country where the labor is principally 
performed by slaves ? But this is not all. The draw- 
back is generally increased by want of sagacity or at- 
tention in forming the plans and arranging the de- 
tails of business. Look, for instance, at the agricult- 
ure of the slave States. This business is frequently 
committed to the superintendence of overseers, who, 
from want of ability or care, manage, with very mod- 
erate skill, and sometimes with a very immoderate 
loss of time and toil. It is probably within bounds 
to say that, by unfortunate planning, and by sluggish 
execution, the labor of a plantation slave is depre- 
ciated fifty per cent, below its nominal value. This 
diminishes fifty per cent, the influences of all those 
causes of national prosperity which are developed 
from judicious agricultural enterprise. This reasoning 
is supported by facts. The experience of the country 
ascertains to us that slavery is a foe to national pros- 
perity. Look at Kentucky. What has retarded her 
growth in earlier days, and what now brings upon 
her a premature old age ? She never flourished like 



256 



ADDRESSES. 



Ohio ; and, although she is young in years, she is al- 
ready upon the wane. New York and Ohio, the one 
her senior, and the other her junior, are still holding 
on in their course, and show no symptoms of hav- 
ing approached the acme of their prosperity. What 
causes . all this difference ? Kentucky is eminently 
gifted with all those natural resources which, by provi- 
dent use, conduce to the rapid and continued prosperity 
of any country. The difficulty is, her energies are 
so paralyzed by her slave population that she can not 
proceed with skill and vigor in the development of 
her resources. If any one doubt that slavery is her 
only bane, we might add a series of facts in confirma- 
tion of it. 

Kentucky is not an isolated example of the cor- 
rectness of our theory. 

Hers is the condition of other States, stretching 
far and wide, embracing different soils, and almost 
every variety of sensible climate within the temperate 
region. These States all wither under the same 
curse, and afford various and repeated experiments in 
support of our reasoning. Slavery is their disease, 
and spreads desolation over their loveliest scenes. It 
is a deadly evil. It has been called a "blot upon our 
national escutcheon;" but it is a gangrene upon the 
nations heart. We believe it is a greater check to our 
national prosperity than all the provincial oppressions 
of '74. 

Again : The colonization scheme is intimately con- 
nected with the security of our country. Our slaves 
are our enemies. They believe we hold in foul abey- 
ance their most sacred rights. We must restore their 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



257 



rights, or they never will relinquish their hostility. 
Their enmity is most inveterate and cruel. It is fed 
from three unfailing sources — their fathers' woes, their 
own wrongs, and the prospective miseries of their 
children. It is said they lack courage to make any 
hostile demonstrations ; but it is dangerous to presume 
ourselves secure. We can not see the workings of 
the human mind, nor calculate the possibilities of 
human action. In this case especially we can not do 
it, because we were never slaves. What fears should 
operate to check their hostile dispositions ? We 
should suppose they would dare do any thing. At all 
events they have nothing to lose. Death is no loss, 
and life no gain to them without a change of for- 
tunes. The time will come, at any rate, when despair 
will supply the place of courage ; and let the elements 
of the storm increase for fifty years, and, whether 
they be roused by this or that agent, they shall never 
sleep again but upon this nation's grave. 

In fifty years our blacks will increase to twelve 
millions. There will then be two millions of free 
blacks to rouse the energies of ten millions of slaves. 
Their numerical increase will be united with other 
advantages of situation and character. Their con- 
dition will improve, as did the system of ancient vil- 
lain age of England. By a gradual accretion of priv- 
ilege, they will continually be taking advantage of the 
ground. They will secure our resources, will seize 
our weapons of defense, gain access to our retire- 
ments, will lie in our bosom, and, when they would 
stab, they will need only to raise the arm and give 

the blow. God will grant us no shield, and will afford 

22 



258 



ADDRESSES. 



us no aid. Every sentiment of the Divine mind will 
be enlisted against us in such a cause. What can 
this nation expect from such a foe in such a cause ? 
To be sure we shall increase to sixty millions of peo- 
ple ; but, if we permit that hour to approach, and the 
storm should commence its havoc, we do not believe 
sixty millions of people, with the lever of Archimedes, 
would raise it above ruins. The world combined 
against us, and approaching us from without, would 
be far less dangerous than such a foe within. 

If this is considered an unjust representation, we 
will support it by the language of one whose opinions 
will be received with reverence. 

Mr. Jefferson says, on the subject of slavery : " I 
tremble for my country when I reflect that God is 
just; that his justice can not sleep forever; that, 
considering nature, number, and natural means, a rev- 
olution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of situ- 
ation is among possible events, and that it may be- 
come probable by supernatural interference." 

If these were the sentiments of that illustrious 
man, when our slaves amounted to little more than 
. half a million, what would he now say to see our en- 
emy grown four times larger, infolding us, like a ser- 
pent monster, in its horrid coil? He would say as 
he then said, but with deeper emphasis, I hope the 
way is preparing, "under the auspices of Heaven, for 
a total emancipation of the slaves." We hope so too. 
And the cause we advocate, embracing in its expected 
issues this very object, is as important, we believe, to 
this nation as was the revolution which gave it birth. 

We ask again, "if this enterprise is equal to the 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



259 



American Revolution, in its promise of security to the 
rights of man f" 

Here we must premise that "all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, lib- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

This is the political creed of the nation. It was 
formed by her wisest sages, and established by her 
highest authorities. It is embraced as orthodox when- 
ever it operates in her favor. If her sons will now 
deny its universal obligation, they deserve to be rep- 
robated by earth and heaven. 

But some have implicitly denied it. They tell us, 
" You need not be anxious about the slave population. 
Our slaves are not unhappy. Ignorance and habit 
render those who have been born and bred in servi- 
tude insensible of miseries." 

Others tell us that the "African does not possess 
those endowments which fit man for a condition of 
freedom." 

Were these assertions true, the man deserves to be 
buried in a Bastile who urges them in support of 
slavery ! What ! shall we grow bold in oppressing the 
African, because he is insensible of the wrong we do 
him ? How came this double curse to fall upon him? 
Are not his ignorance and habits the result of his 
condition, and have not we ruled that condition ? We 
cultivate his ignorance, we form his habits ; and, after 
we have feloniously robbed the body of its spirit, we 
urge the damning crime as an excuse for violating 
the abhorred relics. The very matter of this excuse 
doubles our obligation to the wretched slave. It 



260 



ADDRESSES. 



binds us, not only to redeem his body from chains, 
but his soul from degradation. 

It is equally inconsistent to excuse our invasion of 
the African's rights, by pleading his incapacity to 
maintain and enjoy those rights. The plea is both 
false and foul. Nature has not withheld from the 
African the endowments common to the human 
species. In estimating his capacities we must com- 
pare him with others in the same condition. Is he 
inferior to the helot of Sparta, or the serf of Russia? 
Is he inferior to the villain of England, in his most 
degraded state? If not, let us remember that the 
villain race forms, in part, the national ancestry of 
those who now institute invidious comparisons to dis- 
parage the African character. The condition of the 
slave is base, and no wonder that his mind and morals 
sink to a level with it. Though he may not exhibit 
tokens of intellectual wealth and elevated sentiment, 
we will not receive it as evidence of his poverty in 
these respects. He is not the worst soldier who gives 
his armor to the rust, when its use is demanded in a 
vile and shameless cause. Redeem the slave, present 
him motives to become a man, and he will rise till 
no man will blush to call him brother. Hayti and 
Liberia have already afforded us examples of superior 
worth among free and cultivated Africans. 

But, after all, it matters not, as to the present ques- 
tion, what the African endowments are. Heaven has 
not appointed us the almoners of its bounty, with 
such rules of distribution as are implied in these ex- 
cuses. Shall we assume the office ? It is a bolder and 
baser assumption than Caesar's, of Rome, or Richard's, 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



of England. Would we allow it among ourselves ? 
My neighbor has a large income, and has not skill to 
manage it, or taste to enjoy it, in its highest zest. I 
am justified, therefore, in seizing his possessions, and 
robbing him of his advantages ; and this, too, upon 
my own judgment of his improvidence and profligacy. 
A vaunt this sentiment ! 'T is full of hell. God never 
made the worthiness of man either the title or meas- 
ure of his privileges, or in what depths of fire and pain 
would you and I have been this day ? " Let us hear 
the conclusion of the whole matter." As " all men 
are created equal, and are endowed with certain in- 
alienable rights," the provincial American of '75 and 
the slave are upon the same level in regard to those 
rights. They have " equal rights," by one conveyance, 
from one author, guarded by one law, and inalienable 
by any power but by his who was originally the mu- 
nificent Bestower of them. The American Revolu- 
tion, and African colonization, were undertaken for 
the security of these rights. Which is the most im- 
portant? In the former case, more than two mill- 
ions of souls were suffering partially from oppression. 
In the latter, more than two millions of souls are so 
aggrieved that tyranny can scarce invent another 
scourge to curse them with. There, after some rights 
were invaded, other privileges remained to alleviate 
the sense of loss. Here, the wretched sufferer is di- 
vested of every right, and nothing is left for robbery 
to seize upon. There, the oppressions were public, and 
subject to the scrutiny and indignation of the world. 
Here, the oppressions are private, and the world cares 
too little for the bondman to note either the mode or 



262 



ADDRESSES. 



the intensity of his sufferings. There, Oppression had 
just commenced her reign, and it was believed her 
dynasty could not last long. Here, the slave is born 
in her dominions, lives under her scourge, and can 
not gain the poor privilege of expatriation till he seeks 
and finds it in the grave. Look at this comparison, 
and meditate the result. What relative importance 
does it bestow upon these two enterprises, as the 
means of securing to men their most sacred rights? 
We submit the question to your decision. We ask 
again, Is this enterprise equal to the Revolution in 
the fulfillment of moral obligation ? 

The Revolution was strictly a political enterprise. 
It was a measure of self-defense, and sought the pros- 
perity and security of the nation. We were the op- 
pressed, and not the oppressors. The casuist would 
scarcely decide, that submission to our oppressors 
would have violated, in the least degree, our moral 
obligations. With regard to slavery we occupy very 
different ground. Here also we are oppressed by our 
own mad policy to a degree that would be intolerable 
if it came from a foreign hand. And the Coloniza- 
tion scheme which offers us relief is, as a political 
enterprise, every whit as important as the Revolution. 
It founds one nation, and brings prosperity and glory 
to another. But in this case we were not only the 
oppressed, but also the vile oppressors. In our pres- 
ent national experience and conduct we combine the 
sufferings of provincial America with the guilt of her 
foul and chastised oppressor. And more than this : 
that invasion of our rights which roused the spirit 
of the noble Chatham, till " the sea-girt isle" did rock 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



263 



beneath his indignant eloquence, was friendship \ siveet 
and soothing friendship, compared with the outrages 
we have committed on Africa. Look at this desolate 
land. Consider her history for nearly three hundred 
years. See her soil, crimsoned with the blood of ten 
generations of her murdered sons. See the tears of 
her mourning children, swelling in floods through all 
her vales. Does the cruel vision lead you to inquire, 
"What horrid crime has invoked this deep damnation 
from insulted heaven ?" We answer, God's special 
ministers have not fulfilled, in this sad work, a com- 
mission of unforgiving vengeance : "hi heavenly minds 
such rage dwells not." The monster man has here 
preyed upon his brother, has urged the work of death, 
and now mocks the ruins which his demon heart and 
demon hand have spread through all these wastes. 
Would you know who and where are they that have 
desolated this miserable land ? Look abroad for the 
scattered sons of Africa. Wherever you find them 
bound with chains, toiling in despair, and breathing 
in sighs, there dwell the authors of this wide-spread 
havoc. Our own country, therefore, shares largely 
the guilt of this offense. We have more of the spoil 
than any nation under heaven, and, in proportion to 
our spoil, we partake of the guilt of the invasion. 
We share the disgrace and crime of the larceny, 
according to the value of the stolen goods found upon 
us. This burden of crime does not all rest upon 
this generation, but it rests upon our country, and 
there it ought to be acknowledged to rest. It is de- 
nied. It is said, "We did not ravage Africa and 
slaughter and kidnap her unhappy sons. They were 



264 



ADDRESSES. 



brought hither and cast upon our soil, and how are 
we responsible for the wrongs they suffer ?" Shame 
upon the wretch who by such excuses would absolve 
this nation from its immeasurable guilt ! Who re- 
ceived the stolen property? Who paid the thief? 
Who bid a premium of six or eight hundred per cent, 
upon the expense of seizing, kidnapping, and trans- 
porting the African to our markets ? We and our 
fathers did it. The crime is ours. England could 
throw open our provincial markets, but she could not, 
and did not, compel us to buy and bind the wretched 
negro, and consign him to bondage. We were volun- 
tary purchasers. And our voluntary purchases fur- 
nished England the only motive to open our slave 
markets, and supplied the pillagers of Africa both 
the motive and the means to revisit again and again 
her unhappy shores, and repeat those tragical scenes, 
at the thought of which humanity shudders. Away, 
then, with our excuses ! They insult the people we 
have injured, and the God we have offended by our 
crimes. We have accumulated a weight of obligation 
to Africa which the toil and tears of our children to 
a thousand generations can never pay. But we can 
repent. And we can "bring forth fruits meet for re- 
pentance," by gathering the wandering tribes of Africa 
to their home, and by enlisting our holiest sympathies 
and labors in conveying blessings to a land which 
we have so cruelly and wickedly scourged. The Col- 
onization enterprise proclaims the repentance of the 
nation, and restores to bleeding Africa her children. 
And in its missionary character it will carry the joys 
of religion in deep, and broad, and rapid floods, 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



265 



through her savage wilds and arid plains, till "her 
parched grounds shall become a pool, and her thirsty 
lands springs of water." In discharge of moral obli- 
gation, then, this cause more than equals the Amer- 
ican Revolution. 

Lastly: Are these causes equal in regard to the 
resources necessary for their accomplishment f During 
the Revolution there were treasures of wealth and 
blood expended which you and I can never calculate. 
The riches of this nation were scattered to the winds 
of heaven, and her soil was bleached by the bones 
of her sons, which were gathered in mountain piles 
upon her plains. Our enterprise demands no sacrifice 
of blood ; it exposes our country to no hostile rav- 
ages. We march not forth to the music of war, nor 
do we return amidst the groans of death. Our battles 
may be fought within the temples of our devotion, 
and the contest will be the emulation of all the vir- 
tues. A little of our gold and silver, the offering of 
love to God and man, will accomplish the sweetest 
triumphs of liberty that the songs or the anthems of 
men will ever celebrate. Our enterprise, therefore, 
has an inconceivable advantage over the Revolution 
in regard to the resources necessary for its accom- 
plishment. 

We have finished the comparison. We have en- 
deavored to present each enterprise in undisguised 
colors. We are willing they should stand side by 
side, in description tame or bold ; in colorings fair, 
or flattering, or high wrought ; and in any equal dress 
we challenge the world to gaze and to judge. Here 
we repeat the assertion which introduced this com- 

23 



266 



ADDRESSES. 



parison. Our cause is equal to the Revolution ; and 
if the sons of the Republic have not degenerated, 
and lost the spirit and energy of their fathers, " the 
cause will triumph." We repeat it : The assumption 
of its success is "merely the enunciation of a corol- 
lary educed from moral postulates, and axioms and 
theorems." We trust in Heaven our degeneracy is 
not to be demonstrated before the world. We have 
presages of better things. The sons and daughters 
of the land are engaging in this work with a zeal 
prophetic of its happy consummation. True, they 
have enemies to encounter. But they will not wait 
to counsel the base in soul. What should they care 
for the abuse of those who are too ignorant to per- 
ceive, or too ungenerous to acknowledge the glory 
of this heaven-born enterprise ? 

What did Homer and Milton care for vulgar scoffs, 
when with eagle flight they soared alone, and with 
eagle glance surveyed alone the sublimity of their own 
peerless and heavenly elevations ? 

The Revolution had its Tories. And shall this 
cause escape the misfortunes common to every mag- 
nificent enterprise ? Let its friends proceed with un- 
hesitating courage, and every difficulty shall disappear 
before them. There is no cause for despondency. 
The exertions already made have been attended with 
almost miraculous success. Consider that the labors 
of a little Society have, in thirteen years, unveiled a 
blooming Paradise from the bosom of a barbarous 
and bloody land, and have conquered every formidable 
difficulty which its apprehensions had anticipated. 
Consider that this little Society is now increasing to 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



267 



a host. And if cradled infancy has strangled the 
serpent, what will not the vigor of manhood accom- 
plish ? It will, with Heaven's blessing, defy every 
obstacle; and with almost magic haste will speed this 
work to a successful and glorious issue. You and I 
may live to see Liberia rise like this nation, to be the 
light of Africa, and the Savior of her tribes. 

Sirs, our aid is invoked, this day, to secure and to 
hasten this glorious event. We are called by the ex- 
amples of our fathers, on a day which sheds fresh glory 
upon their triumphs, to arise and emulate all that is 
worthy in their splendid achievements. 

We will dwell for a moment upon these scenes of 
Revolutionary glory, which should inspire both our 
songs and our actions on this occasion. After what 
we have hinted on the subject of the Revolution, it 
will readily be perceived that the war was necessary 
on our part to remedy existing evils, and secure us 
from the approach of those that theatened us. Until 
that period, we had sustained a colonial relation to 
Great Britain, with comfort to ourselves, and with 
satisfaction to our nominal superior. Till then, she 
had generally respected our rights, and we had in- 
variably reverenced her authority. And for more 
than a hundred years, parent and child had demeaned 
themselves with such amicable demonstrations as had 
inspired mutual confidence and regard. It was grate- 
ful to us when separated from our ancient home and 
wedded to these forests, to embrace our parent in our 
new habitation, to receive her messages of peace, and 
respond to them with tokens of filial gratitude and 
love. But these scenes of harmonious intercourse 



268 



ADDRESSES. 



were interrupted. The fiscal embarrassments or ig- 
noble jealousy of Great Britain induced her to com- 
mence a system of taxation, which violated the spirit 
of her own constitution, and abruptly encroached 
upon our rights. 

We have seen that the colonies then embraced 
more than two millions of people. They were free, and 
they were conscious of it. The extent and tenure of 
their privileges were well defined and firmly settled. 
The least change in the title or boundaries of their 
rights would have been hazardous in the extreme. It 
would have demolished the chief bulwarks of their lib- 
erties, and would have exposed to invasion the sanct- 
uary of their freedom. They could expect nothing 
from the generosity of England, since her justice would 
not yield them their undeniable and sacred rights. 
Besides, the myrmidons of her power already polluted 
the soil, and by them she rudely touched the ark, and 
blotted the covenant, of our liberties. This was a 
momentary crisis. Two millions of people who val- 
ued freedom as the soul of every earthly good, were 
about to become the subjects of unlimited domina- 
tion. And this was only prophetic of deadlier evils 
descending upon their children. Their imaginations 
painted in bold, but faithful colors, the servitude and 
shame of generations yet unborn. They saw that 
Slavery was forging her chains for their children and 
children's children, who would soon be numerous as 
the stars of heaven. As they tasted the waters of 
the bitter fountain they saw, in prospect, the issuing 
streams grow broad, and deep, and dark, and bitter 
still, until one-fourth of a world was deluged. 



AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 



269 



Such were the scenes in experience and in pros- 
pect, which introduced our Revolutionary struggle. 
It was a crisis of intense interest. It afforded an oc- 
casion for achievements abounding in every thing 
heroically sublime. Our ancestors were the very 
men to meet that crisis. They engaged at once in a 
desperate struggle for their rights. They scarcely 
waited to calculate the result, for they felt that no re- 
sult could be worse than slavery. They determined 
to live or to die free. And when they had neither the 
soldier's uniform, nor equipments, nor arms, but only 
the soldier's heart, they seized their picks and spades, 
and flew from their smiling fields to Bunker's heights, 
to dig their graves. 

These scenes shall glow beneath the pencil and 
the pen ; shall live in national song, and survive in the 
"spirit-stirring Anthem," till none are worthy to re- 
peat the song, or to paint the scenes of our country's 
glory. 

Our fathers are gone. They are fallen like the 
trees of the woods, and have left but here and there 
a solitary oak, to proclaim the ancient glory of the 
forest. They have purchased for us an inheritance; 
and they have paid for it in blood. They received it 
with an incumbrance ; but they had given their all 
in the purchase, and were compelled to leave it to 
their children to discharge this single claim. 

The time for settlement is approaching, and the 
nation is upon the move to prepare to meet the de- 
mand. 

It is now a most interesting crisis. It affords an 
occasion for achievements, abounding in every thing 



270 



ADDRESSES. 



morally sublime. Are we the men to meet this 
crisis ? If so, we need not fly to the field of car- 
nage. We may approach the altar of peace, and offer 
our vows and charities there. There Patriotism may 
present her gifts, and there Humanity may shed her 
tears, and there Religion may unfold her incense. 
And God shall see it and smile ! and Columbia shall 
smile! and Africa shall smile! and Slavery shall 
stanch her blood and dry her tears and smile ! But 
if we refuse our offerings at the call of mercy, at the 
call of justice, at the call of God, be hushed our 
songs ! 

The melodies of the harp, and the symphonies of 
the temple, are unfit for the impious persecutors of 
mankind. Shall we rob two millions of our brethren 
of the most sacred privileges of their existence, and 
profanely mingle the accursed sacrilege with the con- 
certed harmonies of this holy place? We have 
robbed two millions of immortal beings of the most 
sacred prerogatives of their existence. . . But we 
have done. They received the charter of their rights 
from nature ; and nature's God will vindicate their 
rights, though, in doing it, he should spurn this na- 
tion from his sight ! should blot out its name ! should 
commission his curse to dig its grave! 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



271 



III. 

THE CHURCH OF GOD. 

An address delivered on the occasion of the Centenary of 
Wesleyan Methodism, October, 1839. 

HOW sacred is this hour ! how hallowed all its 
associations ! To us twice hallowed ! As 
Methodists, it revives our admiration of names and 
deeds now surrendered up to fame. As Christians, 
it bears us to the cross, where in meek prostration 
we may adore the gracious providence of God. 

The theme suggested for our thought, by this oc- 
casion, is the Church of God, which he has purchased 
with his blood, and which he now erects, by his re- 
generating power, into an everlasting monument of 
the riches of his grace and the wonders of his cross. 

Delightful service, to " walk about Zion, tell the 
towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, and consider 
her palaces," until, ravished with the vision of her di- 
vine attractions, the pious heart exclaims : " Beautiful 
for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount 
Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the Great 
King." 

To trace the history of the Church in all ages would 
well assort with the genius of the hour. And it would 
be a grateful service. We love the general Church, 
and revere the names and graces of her defenders 
and her martyrs. We bless the Power Supreme, who, 



272 



ADDRESSES. 



amid the perils of a thousand revolutions, has never 
failed to raise her up deliverers. Although, then, 
Christian brethren, we make Methodism prominent 
in this discourse, we will not be unmindful of the 
catholic Church of God — of its perils and its ago- 
nies — of the blood of slaughtered millions poured 
out in martyrdom on the cold and silent earth. 

Our thoughts shall dwell by turns on these affect- 
ing scenes, and the devout meditation shall blend 
with gratitude and praise. 

To preserve order in our remarks, we will speak 
of the Composition, of the Unity, and of the Func- 
tions of the Militant Church of Christ, and then 
institute the inquiry : In what communities her es- 
sential characteristics are found; Whether they exist 
in Methodism ? 

I. In regard to her Composition, the Church may 
be viewed in the abstract and in the concrete. 

1. It is of her abstract character that Christ says, 
" My kingdom is not of this world." In this light the 
apostle views her when he declares — "The kingdom 
of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The meaning 
of both is, that certain moral elements, not of earthly 
but of heavenly origin, infused by the Holy Ghost 
into the hearts of men, constitute the kingdom or 
Church of Christ. The question now is, what are 
these moral elements ? 

They are comprehended in that one word, Holi- 
ness — a word significant of all that constitutes per- 
fection of moral life ; embracing in its highest sense, 
not only innocence, but the devotion of all the ener- 



\ 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 

gies and ardors of the soul to the love and service 
of God. Holiness, however, consists of several forms 
of affection, according to the powers and the relations 
of the moral subject. 

According to his powers. In man, love, hatred, 
desire, aversion, distrust, and confidence, may, by 
sanctification, constitute different forms of holy af- 
fection. According to his relations. As man is most 
intimately related to God, his affections should em- 
brace God as his Creator and Redeemer, and flow 
out toward him in acts of supreme adoration. This 
is called piety. As man is related to his fellow-men 
he should embrace them with pure, fraternal sympa- 
thy, which is called charity. The legal relation of 
man to God and his government demands a peculiar 
state of the affections called repentance. An unof- 
fending subject has no occasion for it ; but man is 
a rebel against heaven, and his rebellion has been 
felt in heaven. From that bright world it brought 
the Lamb of God, who restores the willing by the 
power of the cross. As rebels thus redeemed, our 
first step toward holiness is repentance. We may as 
well look for the fruit without the blossom, as to ex- 
pect moral purity without a godly sorrow for sin. 

Two of these forms of holy affection deserve more 
regard than the others, because they are the cardinal 
elements of a mature Christian character. These are 
piety and charity, the love of God and the love of 
man. 

All Christian graces and holy deeds flow from 
these affections. 

These Christian virtues are inseparable. Where 



274 



ADDRESSES. 



one is there also is the other ; where either is not the 
other is not. 

Piety and charity can no more be divorced than 
God and justice. The impious toward God can not 
love man ; the cruel toward man can not revere God. 
To profess either is to deceive or be deceived. So 
that the great elements of Christian character, piety 
and charity, are joined in eternal wedlock. 

The Christian Church, in the abstract, is consti- 
tuted of these two moral elements. Without these, 
whatever else there may be, there is no Church of 
Christ. The Church is a building, and who can build 
without materials ? What hierarchal power can edify 
the Church of Christ without piety and charity, when 
these are the only elements which can compose his 
Church ? 

2. As to the Church in the concrete, she is consti- 
tuted of persons, who, by the regeneration of the 
Holy Ghost, have come to the possession of piety 
and charity. Regeneration is a heavenly polishing of 
souls to fit them for use in the spiritual edifice ; for 
the Church is Christ's temple, and its materials must 
be holy. Each regenerate person being himself a 
" temple of the Holy Ghost," is prepared for the 
Builder's use. Men may reject him as the Jews re- 
jected Christ ; but the Great Master Builder will 
select him as a polished stone, to be wrought into 
the spiritual edifice. From such new-born souls, 
and from no others, Christ has always chosen some, 
and having commissioned and anointed them, has 
made them under shepherds to watch, and guard, and 
feed the flock. These are his ministers, and they are 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



275 



permitted to exercise their functions with a broad 
discretion. They are commanded, in general terms, 
"to feed the Church of God, taking the oversight 
thereof/' but the formal details of this service are 
mainly submitted to their prudence and integrity. 

3. Such are the essential elements of the Christian 
Church, without which, no ecclesiastical community 
can constitute the true Church, because its very 
materials are such as Christ has reprobated. In this 
case, .whether its outward organization be perfect or 
imperfect, becomes a question of no moment. It 
has not the presence and approval of the Great Head 
of the Church, without which it is a concert of mere 
earthly policies, or a synagogue of Satan. Having 
thus noticed the composition of the Church, we pro- 
ceed to speak. 

II. Of its Unity. 

1. We cordially assent to this proposition that the 
Church is one in all ages. Not that her unity is al- 
ways obvious to the world, but like her other graces, 
it is palpable to herself and to her Head, who are 
the parties to that covenant verified by the preserva- 
tion of her unity. Hers is a unity of essentials, not 
of incidentals ; of substantive elements, not of uncer- 
tain lights and shadows. This unity implies the har- 
mony of the members, the mutual agreement of all 
the parts of the body, and the junction of the body 
with its Head. The harmony of the members arises 
from a concord of fundamental views, and the preva- 
lence of Christian charity. Concord in cardinal doc- 
trines and in sanctified tempers makes the unity of the 
Church in all ages and under all external economies. 



2j6 



ADDRESSES, 



This unity of spirit and of confession is profitable. 
By it, piety and charity have lived and breathed on 
earth from the times of Abel to this very hour, offer- 
ing to God their willing sacrifice, or being offered by 
persecution in patient, holy martyrdom. 

2. The junction of the body with its head implies 
the presence of Christ in such a form that he dwells 
in each member of the Church, rendering him the 
"temple of the Holy Ghost." This harmony among 
the members, and their junction with the Head, under 
all economies and in all ages, is so perfect that the 
records of the doctrines and the sympathies of the 
Church have never changed. She now breathes out 
her lamentations and her raptures in elegies as old 
as her existence, and in anthems coeval with her 
earliest triumphs and joys. 

The mere fact of unity is no proof that any eccle- 
siastical body constitutes the Church. This proof is 
to be sought in the nature of her unity, not in the 
bare fact. Sin as well as holiness may become a bond 
of union. The unity of the Mohammedan, externally, 
may be as perfect as that of the Christian Church, or 
the Papal as complete as that of the Protestant ; but 
if they would answer to the unity of Christ's Church 
they must have the bond of perfect charity among 
themselves, and of vital connection with the Great 
Head. 

III. Our last inquiry is concerning the functions 
of Christ's Church. These are indicated by that word 
"militant," so often applied descriptively to the Church. 
It means warring, and it presents to the mind a pic- 
ture of armed hosts arrayed for deadly conflict, or 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



277 



mingling in the raging onsets of the battle-field. The 
Church composes the soldiery of Jesus, and its busi- 
ness is war, in its conflicts, and in its conquests. Let 
us glance at each. 

Its conflicts are between holiness and sin ; but this 
implies a conflict of truth with error, of sincerity with 
Jiypocrisy, and of charity with malevolence. 

1. The Church maintains a conflict with error. 
This she has done from the beginning. When Christ 
came a light into the world, gross darkness covered 
the people. The infancy of the Christian dispensa- 
tion was, of necessity, a period of prophecy. Christ 
taught before he suffered. He executed the functions 
of the seer until his hour was come to reveal his 
priestly dignity. Then he offered up the sacrifice. 
The apostles continued to invade the realms of dark- 
ness, and with such power from Heaven that soon the 
truth of God was every-where prevailing over the de- 
lusions of the nations. But this day was soon eclipsed. 
A night of weary centuries set in upon the Church, 
in which the prince of darkness ruled, and the man 
of sin did triumph. In the sixteenth century another 
morning dawned, but its light was soon obscured. 
Thus, while truth and error have been set in battle 
array, day and night have alternately held dominion. 
But now Truth has so multiplied the munitions of her 
warfare that she must soon finish the work and dif- 
fuse the saving knowledge of Jesus through the world. 

2. The Church wars with hypocrisy. This foe to 
God and man exists in forms so various that all 
things are full of it. There is the hypocrisy of infidel- 
ity. True, skepticism is generally considered a mere 



278 



ADDRESSES. 



error of thought, but it is in Christian lands gross 
hypocrisy. A sincere infidel is not to be found in 
Christendom, if his character may be gathered from 
his whole career of thought. Amidst the blaze of 
Christian truth, all unbelief has its bud and blossom 
in hypocrisy. The fool first affects atheism, and per- 
severes till that affectation becomes invincible as 
Nature. Superstition is another form of hypocrisy. 
It is the same spirit which Christ rebuked when he 
said, "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypo- 
crites ; for ye tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, 
and all manner of herbs, but neglect the weightier 
matters of the law." 

Against these and all other forms of hypocrisy the 
Church can wield but one weapon, namely, sincerity, 
with any hope of success. Argument will not answer. 
She might as well apply syllogisms to relieve the gout 
or gravel as to apply argument and exhortation to 
heal an infidel spirit. But there is a power of holy 
enchantment in sincerity, which none but incorrigible 
reprobates can resist. This piece of heavenly armor 
must never become rusty in the hand of Zion. Un- 
less she wield it with energy divine, all her works will 
turn to naught. The distribution of the Scriptures 
and the spread of Christian doctrine will only sub- 
stitute hatred for ignorance of God. It will only con- 
vert nations of heathens into nations of hypocrites. 

3. But the Church maintains a conflict with malev- 
olence. All ages have presented the spectacle of per- 
secution for the worship of the true God. Were it 
not that Omnipotence guards the religion of the cross, 
the malice of the world would have crucified it at its 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



279 



birth. Not only has Paganism sought its overthrow, 
but the most fearful cruelties have been inflicted upon 
Israel by them who were themselves of Israel. But 
the very executioners of this vengeance have often 
been transformed into saints, and have become, in 
turn, the objects of persecuting wrath. And how 
transformed ? The meekness of unsubdued charity 
in their victims bore conviction to their hearts, and 
changed the ministers of wrath into living witnesses 
for Jesus. The true Church is never found warring 
with carnal weapons. Her armor is spiritual, and 
mighty through God. Let her equip herself with 
that heavenly virtue, charity, and she may sally forth, 
undaunted, to the conquest of the world. 

IV. Having thus noticed the composition, the unity, 
and the functions of the Church, let us proceed to 
inquire in what communities her essential characteris- 
tics ,may be found, and whether they exist in Method- 
ism. 

1. You are aware that several religious associations 
claim to be of the Church, but with a Christian liber- 
ality they make their claim in common, mutually con- 
senting that all belong to Christ and to his general 
Church. They are the true Catholics of the age, and 
better deserve the name than those who hold as ex- 
communicants from Zion whoever abides not their 
Procrustean tests. We will turn a moment to con- 
sider the strange paradox, namely, that the most ex- 
clusive and bigoted community in the universe not 
only claims to be the Church, the whole Church, and 
only Church, but, to perfect the ludicrous, the Catholic 
Church of Christ. Then we may determine whether 



280 



ADDRESSES. 



it is not more easy to detect the elements of the 
Church in unpretending Methodism— -or her sister 
Protestant sects — than in that ancient hierarchy which 
ridicules and persecutes her claims. 

For you must have learned that since this cente- 
nary movement commenced, jealousy and charity have 
both looked on, this to admire, that to censure and 
disparage. Charity, thinking no evil, thanks God for 
the zeal which, by this young tribe of Israel, pours 
more than a million into the treasury of the Church. 
Jealousy mocks in Jesuitic strains, and bays the en- 
terprise with grace most cynical ; and as the " head 
and front of her offending," charges upon Methodism 
the turpitude of youthfulness, the tokens of which 
she bears on her unblushing forehead, and even cele- 
brates with undissembled joy. 

(i.) They who thus deal with us may have weighty 
reasons. Self-defense is the first law of nature, and 
this may be sought by diverting the public eye from 
themselves to other objects. If so, we can thank 
them for the deed, if not the motive. It may bring 
relief to them, and we are the willing subjects of this 
scrutiny. This inquisition we do not dread ; for, if 
Methodism has any virtues, they are solid, not super- 
ficial. They lie, in reality, not in gaudy dress and 
ornament, or we, too, would strive to lie concealed be- 
hind our neighbor. Had Methodism no other claim 
to Church prerogatives than such as rests on out- 
ward organization, splendid temples, gilded statues, 
vaporing incense, high-priesthoods, and pompous dig- 
nities, and a thousand other scenic preparations and 
performances, without a spark of heavenly fire upon 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



28l 



her altars, she would wish to be observed by hasty 
glances ; and she might rail aloud to accomplish it. 
For these are the Church no more than though they 
were shadowed on the stage, or stretched on flowing 
canvas. 

(2.) But what is alleged against Methodism ? 
Youth — cheerful, vigorous youth, accompanied with 
innuendoes as to her origin and ancestry. And can 
she not vindicate her origin and ancestry ? Yes ; 
and so can her accuser. But they vindicate in differ- 
ent ways. Her accuser makes Rome her mother, 
for he says that Rome " is the mother of all the 
Churches." If this be so, we would persuade her to 
a meek and prudent silence? Can she embarrass her 
child, and not involve herself. What if the birth be 
untimely, and the circumstances doubtful, let not the 
mother reproach the daughter. But the child denies 
this parentage, and prefers that her origin should be 
unknown forever, rather than trace it in this line. 
She claims descent from the apostles, but it is through 
the line of a spiritual seed, which is unbroken, and 
which was always distinguished, or distinguishable, 
by its tempers and deeds of charity, rather than by 
fierce and raging cruelty. Thus, Methodism acknowl- 
edges no ancestry but such as she may exult to claim. 
She rejects, with meek abhorrence, the attempt of 
friend or foe to trace her in the line of an impious 
hierarchy. -And what is gained by such an ancestry? 
Is it age — a ripe old age ? Sirs, the thing which we 
call Methodism, and which a hundred years ago was 
known by other names, is older than either Papal or 
Pagan Rome. The name Methodism was not ap- 

2 4 



282 



ADDRESSES. 



plied, one century ago, to a new creation, or fresh in- 
vention. It was used to designate a company of per- 
sons who met at stated times, and by certain rules, to 
seek the mind that was in Christ, and learn to prac- 
tice charity. Was this a new invention ? It hap- 
pened to these persons in Oxford, as it once did to 
others at Antioch — these were called Christians, and 
those Methodists, because they closely followed Christ. 
We repeat it, then, the thing which is now called 
Methodism is older than Rome herself. It is as old 
as Christianity, as old as charity. But suppose not. 
Suppose that Methodism, not only in name, but in 
genius, were but a tender youth, of obscure and doubt- 
ful origin, could she consent to remove the veil and 
find her mother in Rome? No, sirs ; she would pre- 
fer to live and die an orphan. She would feel that to 
be motherless is a light affliction in comparison with 
what would alight upon her if she must endure a tie 
like this. She would feel that, allied to Rome, she 
was bound to an object of form so loathsome, of 
speech so wrathful, and of deed so treacherous and 
cruel, as to impel her, by any violence, to sever the 
irksome tie. She would seem to hear her Savior say, 
" Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord ; and touch not the unclean 
thing, and / will be a father unto you; and ye shall 
be my sons and my daughters." This mandate she 
would make haste to obey. Do you ask, Wherefore ? 
We are willing to reply. 

Brethren, we will not speak with malice afore- 
thought. While our lips dwell on the attractions of 
Charity, shall we refuse our hearts to her dominion? 



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283 



No. Let her gentle spirit hold us willing captives. 
We now especially invoke her. As to what we shall 
now say, remember that we utter it as from the fields 
of history, and as though we were living in past ages ; 
and that, as to the Church in her present branches, 
whether Protestant or non-Protestant, inferences shall 
not be drawn, with our consent, to the disparagement 
of either. If Protestantism once had virtues, such as 
truth, sincerity, and charity, see if she be not degen- 
erated. If so, in turn protest her. If Roman Cathol- 
icism once had vices — if she was false, and foul, and 
merciless, see if she is not regenerated, and become 
pure, and meek, and holy. If so, in turn cherish her. 
Judge both by what they are in doctrine, in purity, 
and in all the sweet, forbearing graces of religion. 
But permit us, in the mean time, to speak as history 
speaks concerning our common ancestry after the 
flesh, not after the spirit. 

This world has been a field of deadly strife between 
charity and blood-thirsty cruelty. The conflict com- 
menced between the Church and Pagan Rome ; but 
it fell out, at last, between the Church and Papal 
Rome. The struggle was severe and protracted. 
Just at its apparent crisis, Luther arose, and, almost 
single-handed, braved the world. His hope and aid 
were from heaven. He knew that if man prevailed, 
Charity must suffer a signal overthrow ; for the world 
stood up against her, and its hosts were marshaled 
under the stolen banner of the cross. Then it was 
that the Lord clothed himself with might, and gave 
the victory to Zion. But what cruelties were inflicted, 
and with what meek patience endured, we can not 



284 



ADDRESSES. 



briefly mention. On the part of Rome, what out- 
rageous usurpations, half the world being confiscated 
to her seizure by processes which combined the enor- 
mities of robbery, perjury, and murder; and these ag- 
gravated, too, by the priestly orisons and sacramental 
sanctities which she mingled with the blood of 
slaughtered millions. 

(3.) A thousand times the question has been taunt- 
ingly pressed upon the Protestant, "Where was the 
Church before Luther's day ?" My brethren, would 
you find the Church before his day, or since his day, 
there is but one sure way to seek for it. You must 
first go and search for a certain chain which, fastened 
to the cross, and passing through all time, stretches 
away to heaven, and is suspended by God's throne. 
Find the links of that chain, at any period, and you 
may easily trace their connection with the true 
Church. But, in your search, be cautious ; for other 
chains have been forged with human hands, and, by 
outward polish, have been made to resemble this. If 
possible, these counterfeits will be imposed upon you, 
as guides to find the Church. The true chain is of 
heavenly material and manufacture. To distinguish 
it every-where amid works of human artifice of every 
sort, go to the cross and examine the first link. Mark 
not its hue alone, but scan its properties, ascertain its 
heavenly magnetism, its powers of attraction and re- 
pulsion. It is composed of charity. It repels nothing 
but sin, and attracts nothing but holiness. It can 
suffer, but can inflict no suffering. It may be stained 
with blood, but it is the blood of expiating mercy, not 
of relentless persecution. 



THE CHURCH OF COD. 



28 S 



In a word, Jesus is the first link in this bright 
chain of charity. From him you may infer how ev- 
ery link appears. Observe well his attitude. Is he 
the persecutor, or is he the persecuted ? Is he the 
crucifier, or the crucified ? In him does Charity thirst 
for blood, and slake itself with sweet libations from 
quivering, gory hearts ? No. Forth from his own 
bosom flows a crimson tide, mingled with supplications 
for mercy on his persecutors. 

Again we say, this holy sufferer is the first link in 
this golden chain of charity. And his disciples are 
its successive links. These you will find like their 
Master — not the persecutors, but the persecuted — not 
the crucifiers, but the crucified — not the Sauls, but 
the Stephens, of those martyr scenes, which were en- 
acted in all the ages of Rome's usurped supremacy. 
Not the Protestants, not the Roman Catholics, as 
such, composed the Church of Christ ; but they 
among both who meekly repelled sin, who did abhor 
hypocrisy, who resisted the ambitious usurpations of 
apostates, and who denied that the most filthy, 
treacherous community on earth was the spouse of 
Jesus Christ — these were the Church: Their charity, 
incorruptibly pure, yet ever gentle, is the finger-mark 
pointing you to the footsteps of Christ's true flock — 
to the true dwelling-place of Jacob. 

When any portion of this chain loses its heavenly 
temper, Jesus severs and casts it away, repairing the 
breach according to his wisdom. Thus he cast Satan 
out of heaven, Adam out of Paradise, the Jews out 
of the temple and the city which they profaned ; and 
thus he expelled a blasphemous hierarchy from the 



286 



ADDRESSES. 



bosom of the Church. Now, then, it is asked, "Where 
was the Church before (or since) the day of Luther ?" 
We answer, where charity was, there was the Church ; 
where charity was not, she was not. Will you look 
for the Church of Christ among the plunderers of 
the world ? You might as well search for the throne 
of God amidst infernal regions. 

In the darkest times there were, among the servile 
priesthood and the deceived laity of Rome, some who 
refused to be the instruments of canonized crime. 
They saw that, like Judas Iscariot, the ruling powers 
were thieves, and bore the bag; that silver and gold 
were the treasures which they coveted ; that, for the 
fruition of this lust, they would willingly crucify Jesus, 
through lingering centuries, in the persons of his mar- 
tyred representatives. 

Remember, sirs, we speak to the question, Where 
was — not where is-~— the Church ? And was the 
Church, for ages, constituted of a community which 
was not only tolerant of sin in every form, but whose 
indulgent head and ministry were the examples of 
all existing vices, and even of newly invented sins — 
of treacheries more subtle, and cruelties more refined, 
and tortures and deaths more exquisite and horrible 
than could have been devised but by the gracious in- 
genuity of these meek apostles ? Such a community 
might well be called the mistress of the world, the 
harlot of the kings of the earth ; for long and un- 
flinchingly did she sustain the implications of that 
tie. But was she the spouse of Jesus Christ? Hold 
up before you her bloated form and filthy visage ; her 
heart gorged with blood, and her tongue scorched 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



287 



with blasphemies, and say, Is this the spouse of Christ? 
Well may it be asked, "Where was the Church ?" 

Sirs, the Church was then in exile, sighing for de- 
liverance; in the wilderness, nourished by the provi- 
dence of God. You have seen her, since that day, 
coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on her Be- 
loved. In her exile she withstood this power of 
pride, at every step of its ascent to the seat of God. 
With the meekness, but the steadfastness of charity, 
she shuddered at its yet defied, its wanton rage. 
Against its scorn, she arrayed her gentleness ; against 
its curse, her prayer; against its untold cruelties, her 
patience and submissiveness. What followed ? Like 
her Lord, she "was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and, as a sheep dumb before her shearers, she opened 
not her mouth." But her meekness was her salva- 
tion and her triumph. By it, this scourge of a suf- 
fering world stood revealed as " the man of sin," and 
now, no longer sitting in the seat of God to turn all 
nations pale, it is an object of derision rather than 
of dread. 

(4.) As to the question where is the Church, we 
will say, as we have said, where charity is, there is the 
Church ; where charity is not, she is not. But where 
is charity? She is not where the persecutor is. Be- 
tween the persecutor and his victim, charity is always 
to be looked for in the latter. In this it may not, but 
in that it can not be found. And how does this con- 
cern Methodism ? By that name she has been known 
a hundred years ; and will a credible witness stand 
forth and accuse her of the guilt of persecution ? 
Much has she endured. Her founder was a sufferer. 



288 



ADDRESSES. 



His perils were, probably, as imminent as Paul's. 
His associates, too, were often in the jaws of death, 
by the malice of wicked men. The fathers of Ameri- 
can Methodism were in jeopardy night and day. 
Such men as the venerated Garrettson were more 
than once on the verge of cruel martyrdom. These 
hoary- headed patriarchs who come this night, like 
Simeon, into the temple of the Lord, ready to depart 
in peace, have witnessed these scenes. They were 
stoned through the streets of this fair city, which 
their pious hands were among the first to build up, 
for singing hymns to Jesus, as to their God, in a 
style fitted to the ardor of their zeal and the fullness 
of their joys. Set off against these facts, if you are 
able, some examples in which Methodism was the per- 
secutor. Whatever Roman Catholicism may have done 
in this tirade, whatever political Protestantism may 
have done, charity has done nothing — and we trust we 
can add, Methodism has done nothing. And now, 
would it be wise in Methodism to start on a pilgrimage 
to Rome to beg a dowry of her ? Can the Church of 
the living God, bearing along with her the steady 
emanations of charity, wish her mild radiance to min- 
gle with the fierce and bloody luster of this god of 
war? Let inquisitors tauntingly exclaim, "Method- 
ism a hundred years old!" Will she consent to ex- 
change her guiltless youth for a crown of hoary wick- 
edness ? Are wrinkled pride and palsied rage more 
to be desired than the bloom and charm of innocence, 
and the comeliness of righteousness ? She is con- 
tent, for the present, to rest her claims on other 
grounds. 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



289 



But let us consider, What are her claims ? 

(1.) As to her composition, Has she the essential 
elements of Christ's Church ? Has she piety and 
charity ? Did these graces belong to the founder and 
the fathers of Methodism ; and did they, as ministers 
of Jesus, earnestly engage in diffusing them abroad? 

These questions are not proposed for present dis- 
cussion. They are a call for your verdict, as you 
have already made it up in the light of history and 
observation. If you have no data from either source — 
if you know nothing of Methodism, either by con- 
sulting her history, and weighing the merit of its tes- 
timony, or by carefully observing her spirit as dis- 
played before your eyes, and still appear as a witness 
against her, we challenge you. You are incompetent 
to judge her. She must not be sentenced without 
her witnesses. But, if you know her history, or have 
made acquaintance with her in your own person, then 
judge. 

First, carry your inquisition to the founder, John 
Wesley. There are monuments enough in many lands, 
and lofty enough, and durable enough, to hand down 
his fame. Their inscriptions are so distinct that they 
may be read in heaven, earth, and hell ; yet they are 
so minute that they report the softest whispers of his 
lips, and the faintest breathings of his heart. They 
disclose him to the universe. And what does he stand 
confessed ? a roaring lion seeking whom he may de- 
vour, or an imitator of Him "who went about doing 
good ?" From the earliest indications of his youth, till, 
plumed for heaven, he could exclaim, "the best of all 
is, God is with us /" his every deed, prayer, sigh, tends 
25 



290 



ADDRESSES. 



to the conviction that with him holiness was all. The 
love of God and man was the goal at which he aimed 
when he commenced his Christian course; nor did he 
rest until he had found the depths and scaled the 
heights which he so ardently longed to explore. 
When he entered on his public career his theme was 
holiness. The man never lived who gave himself, 
with his energies of soul, body, and spirit, more de- 
votedly to the pursuit of one object than did the Rev. 
J. Wesley. That object was holiness, in its personal 
enjoyment and in its diffusion among mankind. 
Who will deny it ? Who, at this day, would hazard 
his reputation, by professing to distrust the purity and 
ardor of his zeal in the pursuit of this object ? 

There is no more evidence that Mahomet was a 
deceiver, and that Napoleon was ambitious, than 
there is that Wesley was a devout minister of Jesus, 
and consecrated his life to the promotion of truth and 
holiness. Neither the " false prophet," nor the san- 
guinary conqueror, pursued his object with half the 
zeal that Wesley did. 

How was it with his early associates ? Were they 
not of the same spirit? Are the names of Fletcher, 
Bramwell, Clarke, and many others, with such as As- 
bury and Coke, of cisatlantic fame, less precious to 
the Church as examples and advocates of love to God 
and man ? They and their compeers of the first and 
second generations of Methodism, were surprising 
examples of devotion to one enterprise ; namely, the 
acquisition and the spread of holiness. And has 
Methodism degenerated ? Not in Europe, we feel as- 
sured ; not in America, as we humbly trust. We 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



29I 



think that over all the regions of her sojourn, brighter 
and purer fires never glowed upon the altars. Her 
zeal at this time waxes pure and ardent. Holiness 
is emphatically her watch-word, and her people are 
vehemently pressing after it. And while there is an 
unusual thirsting after righteousness, God's promise 
is not made void. He has rained down righteousness 
in the sight of all the people. Of this we offer no 
proof, for all evangelical Protestantism is ready to 
concede, even if it complains of some defects in Meth- 
odism, that there is in her a glowing charity, and an 
honest, fervent piety. This being granted we need 
not stay to vindicate her. And if her members have, 
by regeneration, come to the possession of these 
Christian graces, she has the moral elements which 
compose the Church of Christ. 

These are all that is necessary to the being of the 
Church. Other things may be convenient and orna- 
mental, but they are not indispensable. Their ab- 
sence may mar her beauty, but can not annihilate 
her Church character. Piety and charity are essen- 
tial to her existence, but things external and formal 
do merely add to her comeliness, and make her to ap- 
pear the perfection of beauty. 

To being of every sort belong two classes of at- 
tributes ; one class may be called substantive, the 
other may be termed potential. The former are in- 
dispensable' to being, the latter are mere accidents, 
and whether they fall out or not concerns the mode of 
being, not its essence. This distinction of attributes 
applies to matter and to mind, to persons and to com- 
munities. Substance is essential to mind ; a taste for 



292 



ADDRESSES. 



some one science is potential to it ; the former is indis- 
pensable, the latter is not. Holiness is essential to 
Christian character; severe afflictions, like Job's, are 
potential to it; the former is indispensable, the latter 
are not. So also piety and charity are substantive at- 
tributes of Christ's Church ; a given form of outward 
organization is potential to it ; the former are indis- 
pensable to its existence, the latter not, unless Christ 
has made it so by explicit authoritative mandates. 
This, under the New Testament economy, he has not 
done, except in a few simple and elemental particulars. 

When he executes this office, when he assumes to 
be the Lord of ceremonies in his own house or tem- 
ple, he condescends to explanations and minute direc- 
tion. When he prescribed the offices and forms of 
worship for the Jewish tabernacle and temple, noth- 
ing was left to the discretion of man. The directions 
were as minute as the particles of light and air 
which pressed the outward and inward surfaces of 
this house, and veil, and altar. Whereas, in regard to 
the Christian Church, his direction is little more than 
that " they who worship the father must worship him 
in spirit and in truth," or, "go ye into all the world 
and preach the Gospel to every creature." 

In apparent contrast, yet in real harmony with this, 
is the great variety which has obtained in the out- 
ward organization of the Church, and in its forms of 
worship. 

The Jews, with their Mt. Zion, their temple, and 
their sacrifices, were, at one time, the Church. Is- 
rael in the wilderness, without Mt. Zion, and without 
the temple, were, at another time, the Church. Ear- 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



293 



lier still, Abraham, without even a tabernacle, or a 
formal priesthood, did constitute the Church. There 
could be a Church without the temple, without the 
tabernacle, without the high-priest adorned by Urim 
and by Thummim ; but there never could be a Church 
without piety and charity — such charity as implored 
mercy on the Sodomites, such piety as bound Isaac 
to the altar, and firmly grasped the trembling knife. 
These compose the Church in every age. And if 
they are found among us we have the essential ele- 
ments of the Church. 

We shall not urge our claim to these twin graces, 
but rejoice that they whose judgment we esteem 
concede them to us. Without them Methodism would 
be a mere similitude— the lifeless image of a Church 
modeled after the taste of those who gave the shadow 
its projection. Without these, nothing of substance 
appertains to her. We err; without them, she is a 
substance foul and most offensive. Without holiness, 
a leprosy would cleave to her unclean spirit, shutting 
her out from Israel's camp by a decree of separation 
as vigorous as that which divides hell from heaven. 
But with these Christian graces, if reprobated, Rab- 
bins should cast her from the synagogue, Christ will 
seek her out, call himself her spouse, and set upon 
her the seal of his everlasting love. 

(2.) The unity of Methodism is just such as we 
have already ascribed to the true Church of Christ. 
It is a unity of essentials ; not a unity of mere inci- 
dents. It consists of a body of members made one 
by that Spirit whose office it is to purify and bind 
together the hearts of men. It is not a unity of 



294 



ADDRESSES. 



formal ceremony or outward rite, but it is such as the 
"worship of the Father in spirit and in truth" im- 
plies. 

Unity alone is no conclusive evidence that any 
community is the Church of Christ. To determine 
this point our inquiries must regard the principles 
from which unity is derived. What is the bond of 
union ? Is it holy or unholy? Does it constitute the 
pledged, and pure, and godly brotherhood, crucified 
to the world, and devoted unto suffering and death 
for Christ's sake? Or does it form them into a fra- 
ternity of conspirators against the rights of human 
conscience and the prerogatives of God ? These are 
important questions. And hereafter when the boast 
of any is, "Our unity! our ancient, and enduring, 
and indissoluble unity !" remember the language of 
Jesus is, "If Satan be divided against himself, how 
shall his kingdom stand ?" Sirs, there is unity in hell 
as well as in heaven, and on earth there are shadows, 
not only of the celestial, but of the infernal. 

May we not trust that the unity of Methodism is 
derived from heaven ? — that her harmony of spirit is 
like the music of that world, where the theme of 
every thought, and note, and harp is Jesus, who hath 
redeemed them unto God by his blood ? 

Her unity is so perfect that its integrity is main- 
tained without the aid of ceremonial, uniform con- 
fession, imposed upon her as infallible. The unity 
of the Church is this, as described by an apostle: 
"We are all one [not in the Pope, but] in Christ 
Jesus ;" and this is the unity of Methodism. 

(3.) But does Methodism execute the functions of 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



295 



Christ's Church ? We think it may be shown that 
she has prosecuted a lawful war against error, hypoc- 
risy, and malevolence. She arose in a period of most 
portentous gloom. Do you know the history of that 
period? We will adduce the testimony of men whom 
you will deem both competent and credible witnesses 
of the facts which they record. Their statements will 
convince you that when Wesley commenced his ex- 
traordinary labors true religion was almost banished 
from the world. 

Bishop Burnet writes, in 1 7 1 3 : "I can not look on 
without the deepest concern, when I see the immi- 
nent ruin hanging over this Church, and, by conse- 
quence, over the whole Reformation. The outward 
state of things is black enough, God knows, but that 
which heightens my fears is the inward state into 
which we are unhappily fallen." He then proceeds 
to state that many of the candidates for orders were 
so ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, and of the doc- 
trines of Christianity, that under a well-regulated state 
of things, they would appear not knowing enough to 
be admitted to the holy sacrament. The case is not 
much better, he says, with those who have got into 
orders and come for institution. " These things," says 
he, "pierce one's soul. What are we like to come to 
when so gross an ignorance in the fundamentals of 
religion has spread itself so much among those who 
ought to teach others, and yet need that one teach 
them the first principles of the oracles of God." 
Such is the description given of the regular clergy by 
one of the prelates of the Church. 

Bishop Butler, in 1736, writes: "It is come, I 



296 



ADDRESSES. 



know not how, to be taken for granted by many per- 
sons that Christianity is not so much as a subject of 
inquiry. They treat it as if, in the present age, this 
were an agreed point among all people of discern- 
ment ; and nothing remained but to set it up as a 
subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were by way of 
reprisals for having so long interrupted the pleasures 
of the world." 

In 1738, one year before the formation of the first 
Methodist class in England, Archbishop Seeker writes : 
"Men have always complained of their own times, 
and always with too much reason. But, though it is 
natural to think those evils greatest which we feel 
ourselves — and, therefore, mistakes are easily made in 
comparing one age with another — yet, in this we can 
not be mistaken, that an open disregard to religion is 
become the distinguishing character of the present 
age ; that this evil is grown to a great height in the 
metropolis, and is spreading daily ; and that, bad in 
itself as any can be, must of necessity bring in all 
others after it. Indeed, it hath already brought in 
such dissoluteness and contempt of principle in the 
higher part of the world, and such profligate intem- 
perance and fearlessness of committing crimes in the 
lower, as must, if the torrent stop not, become abso- 
lutely fatal." He adds that " the emissaries of the 
Romish Church have begun to reap great harvests in 
this field." 

So much for the prelates of the Church. The fol- 
lowing, from eminent dissenters, will show that the 
conviction of this prevailing profligacy was common 
to all serious minds. 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



297 



Rev. John Howe declares "that the malignant 
opposition made to the Holy Spirit by some, and the 
vile contempt cast upon him by others, have quenched 
and grieved him, and caused him to depart to that 
degree as hereby almost all vital religion is lost out 
of the world." 

173 1. Dr. Isaac Watts testified, that the declension 
of virtue and piety " is a matter of mournful observa- 
tion among all who lay the cause of God to heart ; 
and, therefore, it can not be thought amiss to use all 
just and proper efforts for the recovery of dying re- 
ligion in the world." 

1734. Dr. Abraham Taylor says that "the Holy 
Spirit has been grieved and offended till he is in a 
great measure withdrawn and gone." These are com- 
petent witnesses to the fact that the sun of Reforma- 
tion had gone down upon the Church, and that, in 
the darkness which succeeded, Satan had commenced 
to reap the harvest of the world. According to this 
testimony, religion, as a power of renovation to hu- 
man souls, had scarcely a place on earth. Doubtless 
it did exist ; for God has promised that the Church 
shall endure forever ; but the tokens of its life were 
almost too faint to be discerned but by a scrutiny 
Omniscient. Romanism and atheism divided between 
them the empire of sin ; nor did the prince of dark- 
ness fault the fealty of either. He set the former to 
corrupt the holy law ; and so faithfully did it execute 
the office as to "render the word of God of none ef- 
fect by its traditions." The latter he plunged in the 
profoundest depths of beastliness, till, like the Gen- 
tile reprobates, their religion became almost the wor- 



298 



ADDRESSES. 



ship of the vices. In the midst of such deep gloom, 
Wesley arose, and, moved by the Holy Ghost, com- 
menced that course of toilsome ministrations which, 
in the language of Watts, "restored a dying religion 
to the world." 

The hypocrisy of infidelity and superstition has 
been pursued by Methodism, if not to its destruction, 
to its confusion and dismay. Look to the lands where 
she dwells, and compare their present and their past 
moral states. 

As to the war of Charity against Malevolence, we 
have glanced at it already. 

Remember, sirs, that in this conflict, truth, sincer- 
ity, and charity, on one side, and error, hypocrisy, 
and malevolence on the other side, are the belliger- 
ents. Both these and those are always allied forces. 
Neither the virtues nor the vices can be separated. 
This truth may test the claims of Papal Rome, and 
the character of Methodism. As to the former we 
have seen that the most fearful cruelties were in- 
flicted upon Israel by them who, were of Israel ; by 
them who, in a career of usurpations, first over the 
souls, and then over the temporalities of men, seized 
half the property of the world to their greedy use. 
We have seen that vaulting to God's throne, and an- 
nouncing themselves the lords of human conscience, 
they became, like rebel angels in heaven, no longer 
the Church of God. But in all this vision of the 
past we have not professed to know that our fellow- 
citizens who choose to be called Roman Catholics, are 
what we have described. We believe that they, too, 
profess a certain degree of Protestantism, which, 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



299 



although it does not fashion them a sect in form, im- 
parts to them some of the virtues of a sectarian spirit. 
Is it not sectarian — as it is certainly a virtue — to cut 
off the flow of their complacent sympathies from 
Mother Church, in her enactment of those enormi- 
ties which it required half the ages of her long life 
to perpetrate ? We are Protestants, and why ? Be- 
cause we protest this tyrant power in all her measure 
of magnitude and age. Why are they not Protestants 
who protest her in all her measure of magnitude for 
half her age? This our citizen Roman Catholics 
must do, if they protest her cruelties and bloodshed. 
These they do protest. What then ? We trust perse- 
cution may be ended. We are all Protestants, shall 
I say ? in different stages of that procedure. We 
pray that we may say it ; and may find increasing 
evidence that these Americanized Roman Catholics 
differ from Americanized Protestants as Paul's con- 
verts differed, namely, the former who are of tender 
age using the milk of Protestantism, while the latter 
having come to years, are able to endure strong meat. 
This, if so, is not unpromising. It shows that for 
three centuries past, our lines of march have been 
convergent. Once a kingdom could not quietly con- 
tain us ; then a city — now a cottage. And if we can 
breakfast in one house, perhaps we may dine in the 
same apartment ; and then who knows but we may sup 
at the same table, partake of the same dishes, and 
enjoy our milk and meat in common ? 

If we ascribe to our fellow-citizens more placability 
than pleases them, we rejoice to have erred on the 
side of charity. 



300 



ADDRESSES. 



If Rome abroad is like Rome at home, and Rome 
at home is what she once was, we do greatly err. 

Rome claims to be exclusively the Church of the Liv- 
ing God. How, then, has she fulfilled the functions 
of her station ? Sirs, if Inquisition horrors, if the per- 
juries of ages, if the plundering of the world, if the 
crucifixion of nations, if these and such like are the 
functions of God's Church, then shall Methodism re- 
fuse to be a Church, or shall consent to be identified 
with Rome. 

Methodism not only enacts a part, differing from 
this of Rome's, but she is unique also among the 
branches of the great Protestant family. Her founder 
was a reformer. But he was not like any reformer 
that for centuries preceded him. He was like Luther 
generically, but not specifically. Luther was set as 
a light in the dark and cloudy firmament, to rouse and 
cheer a benighted age. But that light, though brill- 
iant, did not burn, and purify, in proportion to its 
brightness. When lesser lights succeeded they grad- 
ually waned, till they shone with cold and chilling 
luster, like moonbeams in an arctic sky, inadequate 
to guide the reason, or to warm and purify the heart. 
At length, Reason herself, as if weary of her fruitless 
gaze, turned away disheartened, and fled from a twi- 
light theology, into the darkness of infidelity. 

Then, when the world was almost ripe for a perdi- 
tion deep as hell, Wesley was raised up, not to reform 
the creeds or economies of God's Church, but to re- 
vive in her the dying spirit of her bleeding Lord 
and Head. He did not, as others before him, place 
the naked bones in order, but he cried : " Come, O 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



SOI 



breath, and breathe upon these bones ;" and by 
the energy of Godhead, bone came to his fellow- 
bone, sinews and flesh came upon them, and they 
stood up in fairest symmetry, an exceeding great 
array. 

Wesley aimed simply to bring men to God. 
Others strove to bring them to the creed, or Church 
approved, and then if they zvoiild travel toward God 
so much the better. Other reformations were con- 
cerned largely with things outward and speculative, 
with the logical understanding and dogmatic faith, but 
Wesley passed these by, and entering the forsaken 
field of man's corrupt affections, he called, with pro- 
phetic emphasis, for the consuming fires of heaven, 
and they descended and kindled on the sacrifice. 
Thus did he, like Peter on the day of Pentecost, re- 
veal, as his perfect panoply for war against God's 
enemies, the Christian armor, not the weapon of 
persecution, of foul assassination. All her life long 
has the spirit of Methodism been the spirit of char- 
ity, the spirit of unity, the spirit of the militant 
Church, and by supplication to heaven, and by the 
published messages of grace, she has multiplied her 
victories and secured her blessed conquests. 

Thus has she fulfilled the functions of Christ's 
Church. 

Brethren of the Church, this is Methodism. Its 
purifying fires have reached your hearts, and from 
yours it is to kindle in other bosoms as dark and 
cheerless as were yours. They are to kindle fast, and 
far, and wide, and deep, till, renovating the nations, 
the corrupt foundations of human society as it now 



302 



ADDRESSES. 



is shall perish, and a new earth shall spring out of the 
mighty wreck and ruin. Brethren, we are now in 
an age and country marked by the mildness of the 
conflict between charity and selfishness. This state 
of things has its dangers. Charity unprovoked by 
persecution, may become indolent and slothful. No 
longer roused by the wounds of enemies, she may lie 
down to sleep, and forget to execute her office to- 
ward mankind. Her business now is not to defend, 
but to assail ; not to suffer, but to surprise with bold 
invasions, the conquest of the world. Offense is now 
her privilege and duty. She is to march her trained 
forces into the region of sin and suffering, and expel 
these twin destroyers of a redeemed race. 

As to the conquests of the Church, we simply ob- 
serve that her experience and God's covenants as- 
sure us that they shall be universal, and maybe sud- 
denly accomplished. 

The prophet's tongue must lie, and the prophet's 
harp deceive, or soon, very soon, Charity, the muni- 
tions of whose welfare are now increased a thousand 
fold, will stretch her arms of mercy over land and 
ocean and embrace the human family. 

Then what will earth become ? Who that beheld in 
her sickly, deathly states, overspread with scenes of 
violence, a prison-house of reprobated spirits, im- 
pressed by God's deep curse, throughout her oceans 
and her continents — who, that beheld her thus, could 
know her in her forms of fair and heavenly renova- 
tion, clothed in robes of health, and blooming in the 
smiles of heaven ? So unlike her former self, shall 
she become under the transforming power of love. 



THE CHURCH OF GOD. 



303 



The world now seems remote from this blissful 
state. And were we to infer, from the movements of 
the Church, the period which she must occupy in 
subduing" the world to Christ we might almost de- 
spair. We should be tempted to judge, from the slow 
progress of the enterprise, that its consummation is 
too remote for hope to feed upon. 

But a change is coming. Zion will not always 
move so heavily in this great work. Think of her 
energy when apostolic zeal led out her battling hosts, 
and conducted her swift movements. Judge from 
what she then accomplished, how rapid will be her 
conquests, when clad in the same armor, and moved 
by the same spirit, she shall come up to the help of 
the Lord against the mighty. 

To conclude, let us ask what part Methodism is to 
act in this glorious struggle ? She is comparatively 
a new recruit among the forces of Immanuel ; but 
she has so demeaned herself as to have raised high 
expectations. Like David, she came a stripling to 
the camp, when there was fear throughout all Israel, 
and pride, and wrath, and bold defiance, smote the 
hosts of God with feebleness. 

Look back one hundred years. What changes have 
come over the face of this creation ! Where are the 
giant foes of the Lord and his Anointed ? Smitten to 
the earth, and cursed in their name, and work, and 
memory. And now shall the stripling, grown to man- 
hood, forget the zeal and courage of his youth ? Let 
his humble origin, his juvenile simplicity, his unos- 
tentatious manners, his meekness under the unkind 
reproaches of his brethren never depart from him. 



304 



ADDRESSES. 



Let him remember well the shepherd's sling ; the five 
smooth stones chosen from the brook ; the- battle 
hymn and prayer. 

Then shall he sit upon the throne, and judge his 
people Israel. 



THE GRAVE. 



305 



IV. 

THE GRAVE. 

An address delivered on the opening of the Wesleyan 
Cemetery, Cincinnati, July ii, 1842. 

THE grave ! How precious are its spoils ! How 
unremittingly it multiplies them ! Its gath- 
erings are now more than a hundred generations. 
For six thousand years it has been the sole office 
of death and his ministers to sow in its bosom the 
seeds of springing life. It will prove a fruitful soil ; 
for, by a slow, but certain growth, it will produce the 
harvest of immortality. But its treasures are not its 
own. They are a sacred trust, which, in due time, 
it must render up for the peopling of other worlds. 
It holds in abeyance the hope of heaven — it holds in 
abeyance the expectation of hell. 

No wonder, then, that the grave has been regarded 
with reverent interest, by civilized men, from the be- 
ginning of the world. No wonder that this interest 
has illustrated itself in the various modes and cere- 
monies of sepulture. Why should we look with in- 
difference on the body ? The Almighty Creator cares 
for it, and when it is dissolved, he watches its dust. 
Is it strange that he should impress mortals with 
concern for that which is an object of his own re- 
gard? He has inspired us with this concern. We 

26 



306 



ADDRESSES. 



feel it as an instinct, and religion, which tempers and 
controls, is not intended to eradicate it. 

This regard for the body extends to its separate 
state, seeking a place for its repose and impelling 
surviving friends to watch, and guard, and ornament 
its sepulcher. And this is not the mere impulse of 
a superstitious age. As the records of the past fully 
witness, it was practiced by all the generations of our 
race. 

Historical notices of funeral forms and incidents ex- 
tend back to gray-haired antiquity. They embrace a 
period of four thousand years. Let us glance at 
some of the burial customs which have prevailed 
among the principal nations, in all past time. We 
shall find that it has been an almost universal usage, 

I. To provide receptacles for the dead. In patriarchal 
ages, sepulchers were common among the Canaanites, 
as we learn from the language of the sons of Heth, 
who said to Abraham, " None of us shall withhold 
from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury 
thy dead." Burial was universally practiced among 
the Hebrews, who, as a general rule, excluded from its 
rites none but such as had committed suicide, and 
them only for a day. If we may judge from existing 
monuments, as well as from their history, the Egyp- 
tians abounded in tombs which were constructed with 
singular toil and skill. All are aware that Greece and 
Rome held the rites of sepulture to be sacred. Other 
portions of the globe, whose early annals have no 
place in history, bear the tokens of having cher- 
ished early races of men, who paid great regard to 
the interment of the dead. 



THE GRAVE. 



307 



Among the principal nations of the world burial 
was so uniform, and so deeply rooted in the mind 
was the conviction of its propriety, that it was 
deemed the greatest misfortune to be deprived of 
funeral rites. Superstition connected the destiny of 
the soul with the disposition of the body. On the 
interment of the one depended, as was believed, the 
Elysium of the other. 

Such having been the sentiment and the usage of 
antiquity, no wonder that there are many exciting 
monuments and proofs, that the fissures of rocks and 
artificial excavations were anciently used as chambers 
of repose for the dead. Burial has been so gener- 
ally practiced, that it can scarcely be considered a 
sign of civilization. It was common among the gross- 
est barbarians. Indeed, it seems that humanity en- 
joins it, and that in this the most untutored of her 
children understand and obey her voice. 

2. These receptacles of the dead have been chosen 
or constructed with reference to durability. In prim- 
itive times the most common burial-places were the 
rude work of nature. They were grots or caves, 
sometimes in the sides or bases of the mountains, 
and sometimes in rocky vales. In the progress of 
ages these rude chambers of death yielded to arti- 
ficial sepulchers, formed of the caves or cut out of 
the solid rock. At length, when kings or heroes 
were to be honored with a more imposing burial, 
tombs were constructed at great expense and toil, 
and pains were taken to render them imperishable as 
nature's own handiwork. As society improved, tombs _ 
became more common, and were used for the people 



308 



ADDRESSES. 



as well as for the princes. The great expense in- 
curred in their construction was in part avoided by 
making them merely monumental, while the bodies 
of those whom they commemorated found a more se- 
cure mansion in the grave. 

We know, from Scripture testimony, that the se- 
pulchral grots of primitive times were occupied by suc- 
cessive family generations. For hundreds of years, 
the descendants were laid side by side, in silent re- 
pose, with their venerated and patriarchal ancestors. 
But we know more still. The reports of travelers as- 
certain to us that some very ancient sepulchers re- 
main to this day. Of this there are the most convinc- 
ing proofs. Their very appearance suggests it to the 
antiquarian observer. All tradition concerning them 
is gone, or lends this hypothesis a strong confirmation. 
Their inscriptions have lost their significancy, even 
among nations which boast a lineage and literature 
almost eternal. Thus the receptacles of the dead 
have been chosen with reference to durability. They 
were constructed for posterity ; and, to speak in hy- 
perbole, some of them for eternity ; for they seem to 
survive all the monuments of antiquity. 

3. These receptacles of the dead were selected, or 
constructed, with reference to ornament ; and that of 
two kinds, namely, the decorations of nature, and 
those of art. The former consisted of trees, shrub- 
bery, and flowers. These probably beautified the 
first sepulcher of which we have any description — 
that of Sarah in Hebron. We learn, from the 23d 
chapter of Genesis, that Abraham's purchase embraced 
the field of Ephron, the cave that was therein, and all 



THE GRAVE. 



309 



the trees that were "in the field, and in the borders 
round about." 

From the language we may infer that the trees 
were reserved by special contract, not passing with 
the soil as by modern conveyances. Perhaps they 
constituted the principal charm of the spot, as it ap- 
peared to the discerning eye of Abraham, who had 
just then resigned the care of his flocks, and forsaken 
the pastoral groves of Beer-sheba, that he might come 
and bury his beloved Sarah, who had died at Hebron 
in his absence. It seems that the cave where he 
wished her remains deposited was in the end of the 
field. Of course, its position was in the shade of the 
border — no doubt gracefully embowered among the 
overhanging trees, and half concealed by creeping 
vines, fragrant flowers, and aromatic shrubbery. 

It is stated in Holy Writ, that Deborah, Rebecca's 
nurse, was buried under the shade of a tree, as was 
Saul, the King of Israel. According to the best evi- 
dence, the Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans 
were accustomed, not only to cultivate flowers in the 
vicinity of their tombs, but to strew the graves of their 
friends with the leaves of plants and the boughs of 
the myrtle. It is certified that to this very day the 
women of Egypt weekly visit the tombs, and adorn 
them with flowers, covering them, also, with palm 
leaves, and rendering them fragrant with a profusion 
of sweet basil. 

The artificial ornaments of the sepulcher are those 
of architecture, sculpture, and inscription — to which 
may be added what is called by the evangelists gar- 
nishing, which signifies to whiten, or otherwise deco- 



3io 



ADDRESSES. 



rate the tomb. These decorations have not been used 
in every age ; but they have been common for more 
than three thousand years. Architecture has varied 
in different periods. In ancient Egypt it sometimes 
contributed magnificence rather than beauty, as the 
eternal pyramids testify. These, to be sure, might 
have been the groundwork of many clustering orna- 
ments, both of architecture and sculpture ; but no to- 
kens of the fact remain. Probably no such decora- 
tions belonged to them, but, in their construction, the 
single idea was grandeur. If so, the object of the 
builders was attained. 

In the cavernous sepulchers of Egypt and Thebes, 
and in the tombs of Petra and Palestine, are some spec- 
imens of delicate sculpture which excite the admira- 
tion of all intelligent travelers. The finest examples 
of the art found in Jerusalem, or its neighborhood, 
are in the tombs of the kings. Sepulchral inscrip- 
tions, in modern times, not only commemorate post- 
humous names and virtues, but add variety of orna- 
ment. There are ancient inscriptions remaining to 
this day. Some of them were, doubtless, ornamental ; 
but generally little can be known, either of their sig- 
nificancy or of their original appearance. Most of 
you have doubtless read of the celebrated mountains 
of Arabia, containing numerous inscriptions, which 
some learned men undertake to maintain were exe- 
cuted in the days of Moses, and which others believe 
to have marked ancient burial-places. 

Our Savior speaks of garnishing the tombs of the 
prophets, from which we learn that, in the decline of 
the Jewish nation, it was one of the offices of Phari- 



THE GRAVE. 



saic devotion to paint and ornament the monuments 
erected in memory of "holy men" of old, in order to 
give them a cheerful, honorable, and showy aspect. 
In Egypt, the tombs of the kings on the upper Nile 
are embellished with interior paintings, which appear 
fresh and vivid as the work of yesterday. They are 
historical and descriptive, and throw much light on 
the ancient habits and usages of the nation. Trav- 
elers speak of these decorations with enthusiastic ad- 
miration. Such ornaments are now less used in the 
East, and are unknown in the West. The Orientals 
still adopt architectural ornaments ; but they are of 
less account in Western Europe and America, where 
sculpture is much used. Some of the finest produc- 
tions of this last-mentioned art are found in Euro- 
pean cemeteries, and rarer specimens in our own 
burying-grounds. Inscriptions are seldom dispensed 
with in Europe or America, whenever a stone is used 
to mark the grave of a deceased friend. 

4. In selecting sites for tombs or cemeteries, much 
regard is paid to convenience. It seems that many 
of the Oriental nations have generally chosen elevated 
ground, but not uniformly. Job, in one instance, uses 
language which has been supposed to signify that in 
his day the valleys were the common places of burial. 
But this meaning of the passage is disputed. "The 
clods of the valley shall cover him " means, says an 
eminent critic, "that the green turf around his tomb, 
like the verdure in some rich vale, or on the borders 
of a running stream, shall be sweet unto him." In 
Egypt, Idumea, and Palestine, the tombs are oftener 
elevated than depressed. They are generally formed 



312 



ADDRESSES. 



in the sides of hills or mountains, possibly because 
these are precipitous, and the perpendicular face of 
a naked rock is conveniently excavated and formed 
into a sepulcher. Most of the sepulchers in the 
neighborhood of Jerusalem are on the sides of sum- 
mits of hills ; yet the valley of Jehoshaphat, a very low 
ground, contains several tombs which pretend to a 
high antiquity. It is not probable, however, that the 
valleys bounding this ancient city were much used 
for ordinary burial. The pyramids occupy a plain. 
They skirt the edge of the Lybian desert, close upon 
the cultivated regions watered and enriched by the 
Nile. The celebrated ancient Egyptian cemetery, 
situated near Lake Ackerusia, was on low ground. 
Yet the evidence is conclusive that the high grounds 
of Egypt were much used for burial. 

The primitive Grecians practiced domestic burial, 
having tombs prepared in their private dwellings. 
Their heroes, and other eminent men, were, in after 
times, buried in their cities. Sometimes the temples 
of the gods received the remains of very pious and 
patriotic citizens. Euclides enjoyed this honor for 
traveling a thousand stadia in one day to bring hal- 
lowed fire from Delphi. At one period, it was cus- 
tomary to bury their dead by the highway side, to im- 
press the minds of travelers with a sense of their 
mortality, and to rouse martial courage in the de- 
fenders of a soil, along whose public roads an enemy 
could not pass without profaning the sepulchers of 
their fathers. 

The Roman usages were nearly the same. Their 
public burial-places for the patricians were in the 



THE GRAVE. 



313 



Campus Martins, and for plebeians without the Es- 
quiline Gate. The vestal virgins were buried in the 
city. 

5. In the construction of tombs there has been no 
uniformity of figure or size. It seems that in these 
taste has governed. But it was sometimes a national 
as well as an individual taste. The Egyptians, for 
instance, were fond of the pyramid. The foundation 
of this preference, as mentioned by Herodotus, is of 
sufficient interest to be named. They held that the 
pyramid was emblematic of human life — the ample 
base representing its origin, and the apex its termina- 
tion in the grave. The pyramid was, also, in use among 
Greeks and Romans. But the common graves of 
early Greece were caves dug in the earth — paved in 
later times, and covered with arches. The Arabians 
heaped stones upon the grave, after the manner of 
our American Indians. A single stone for a monu- 
ment came into use in process of time ; and, at last, 
this began to be fashioned by the chisel, till it grew 
into exquisite beauty under the hand of the artist. 
Among the Mohammedans, the graves of eminent 
men are surmounted by large structures, supported 
by columns, and arched overhead. The Campanian 
tombs, in which were found the beautiful Grecian, or 
Etruscan, vases, are mere inclosures of ashler, roofed 
with shelving flag-stones. But it were endless to de- 
scribe the forms which rude or refined taste, an err- 
ing superstition, or a wanton invention, has impressed 
on the dwellings of the dead. 

6. The burial customs of every age betray the 

strength of our regard for patrial, social, and domestic 

27 



314 



ADDRESSES. 



relations. Turn, for illustration, to the closing scene 
of the life of Jacob. He had exacted an oath from 
his son Joseph, not to leave him in Egypt, but to 
convey his body to Canaan, and bury him with his 
fathers. The oath was not forgotten; and the appeal 
of the pious patriarch in his last moments is full of 
touching pathos. We seem to see him in the ago- 
nies of death, surrounded by his sons, the heads of 
Israel's tribes, on whom had just descended his last 
paternal blessing. But on one is fixed his chief re- 
gard. It is his Joseph, who bends reverently over 
him, and listens to catch his dying whisper. Fasten- 
ing on the juror his beseeching eye, with frequent 
pauses to recover his fleeting breath, he says : "lam 
to be gathered unto my people ; bury me with my 
fathers in the cave that is in Machpelah, before Mam- 
re, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought 
with the field of Ephron the Hittite. There they 
buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife ; there they 
buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife ; and there I bur- 
ied Leah !" His wife, his kindred, and his country ! 
these, and the hope of mingling his dust with theirs, 
occupy his dying thoughts. Joseph, in turn, took an 
oath of his brethren, as the representatives of their 
descendants, that his bones should be carried up from 
Egypt. 

Frequent hints in sacred history assure us that the 
Hebrews valued above price the privilege of home 
burial. The Grecians scarcely reckoned burial a 
blessing, unless its rites were performed by relatives, 
and they were placed in the tombs of their fathers. 
At any rate, they considered foreign burial worse 



THE GRAVE. 



315 



than death. Such is the sentiment in the following 
epitaph of one who was buried in a distant clime: 

" From my dear native land remote I lie ; 
O worse than death ! the thought is misery !" 

The original proprietors of this soil, a thousand 
tribes, diminished and brought low by the consuming 
vices of the white men, have been driven abroad. 
Taking up their march for the wilderness, what has 
been the principal theme of their lament ? As they 
turned their faces to the setting sun, they mourned 
not the loss of their hunting grounds, but their exile 
from the graves of their fathers. They are savages ; 
but theirs is the voice of humanity, not merely in its 
depraved and barbarous, but in its purified and pol- 
ished state. 

To this deep and universal affection for country, 
friends, and kindred we may probably trace the cem- 
etery ; or the practice of gathering the bodies of the 
dead into places of common burial. This is an an- 
cient usage ; for some spacious sepulchers in early 
times were occupied by whole families in their gen- 
erations, and sometimes by a whole tribe or people. 
But the first burial-ground that we read of, bearing 
much resemblance to the modern cemetery, was that 
already mentioned in Egypt. Allowing much for 
fable, it is represented to have been situated on a 
lake called Acherusia, near Memphis. It was a spa- 
cious plain with a sandy surface, but at a slight 
depth composed of solid rock. It was surrounded by 
groves, and intersected by artificial water-courses, 
whose borders were verdant, and enameled with aro- 



316 



ADDRESSES. 



matic flowering shrubs. It was called elisout or elis- 
imcs, signifying rest. From this might have been bor- 
rowed the poetic elysium of Homer, and other pagan 
writers. In its details this description may be fabu- 
lous ; it certainly re-appears in this form in the Greek 
mythology ; but it seems the Egyptians had one or 
more field cemeteries, somewhat resembling those of 
later times. 

Of modern cemeteries we can say but little. The 
most noted of Europe is at Paris. Its site is a gen- 
tle ascent, facing the city on the north-west. It is 
very spacious. The beauty of the ground and the 
splendor of its ornaments are spoken of with great 
admiration. Intermingled with the choice and trained 
productions of the soil, are monumental columns of 
every form. Obelisks, pyramids, funeral vases and 
choice statuary, of incredible variety, some chaste and 
suited to the solemnities of the grave, and some out- 
raging all the principles of taste, seem to crowd these 
fields of death. 

But why dwell longer in meditation among the 
tombs ? Death lives not merely in history. A hun- 
dred and fifty generations are his victims ; but living 
and coming generations are under doom to the same 
relentless power. To live is to die. The grave is 
not full ; and all over the earth its fresh monuments 
of conquest are glittering in the moonlight and 
whitening in the sun. We and our children are mor- 
tal. This has urged us away from the walks of 
worldly care, and brought us hither. To prepare our 
bodies for the grave has already cost us years of so- 
licitude and toil ; to prepare a grave for our bodies 



THE GRAVE. 



31/ 



may well employ one fleeting hour. In this work of 
preparation we should consult human nature, the -pro- 
prieties of life, and the judgment of Jehovah. 

As to human nature, in a most important sense it 
is always the same. So far as it depends on innate 
or on circumstantial influence, it can not greatly 
change. True, it may be molded in its outward feat- 
ures. It is like the thorn, whose branches you may 
bend, whose foliage you may trim to many pleasing 
forms, but which, under every shape and inclination, 
remains an unfruitful and an offending tree. When 
we propose, then, that human nature be consulted, 
we do not mean that all its dictates should be heeded. 
Pharaoh and Absalom obeyed its voice when they 
erected the pillar and the pyramid. It may suggest to 
us what it prescribed to them — costly monuments to 
feed our hungry pride. For the unsanctified heart has 
the ambition of that usurper, who seized his father's 
throne, and then reared up a pillar to perpetuate his 
name. 

But human nature sanctified demeans itself more 
meekly. And yet it hath desires. Joseph uttered 
them when he besought his brethren to carry up his 
bones from Egypt to Canaan. So did Jacob when he 
requested his son to swear that he would bury him 
in the sepulcher of his fathers. So did Abraham 
when he refused to deposit the remains of Sarah in 
the tombs of the Hittites. but insisted that Ephron 
should receive a price, and make Machpelah sure to 
him. These examples we may innocently copy. Nay, 
more, it is commendable to secure a spot where, after 
death, we and our families may repose undisturbed. 



318 



ADDRESSES. 



Abraham was rich ; but we have no notice that 
he purchased any land except that field. He could 
feed his flocks upon the commons, or drive them to 
shelter in the depths of the wilderness, where, for the 
time, the occupant was owner. But when he would 
bury his dead, he must purchase a grave, and fortify 
his title by every possible device. Under God he 
owed it to this forecast that so many of his descend- 
ants, scattered in their life-time by treachery and dis- 
sension, at last found burial in the family domain. 

In preparing our graves, we should regard the pro- 
prieties of life. A stone to tell where we lie, set up 
by those whose happiness we cherished through suc- 
cessive years of weakness and exposure, is a just and 
savory offering of filial gratitude. But simplicity be- 
comes the grave. Soaring pride should not light 
upon the tomb. It invites a meeker guest. May not 
Humility possess one resting-place on earth ? O, let 
her wander hither and erect her chastened monu- 
ments of holy, sweet affection ! Let her rear the pyr- 
amid on yonder waiting soil, and water the spring- 
ing willow with her tears. These will impress the 
millennial generations which shall follow, with respect 
for their progenitors, and with sentiments adapted to 
their walks among the tombs. We do not deck the 
dead with flounces, nor burden them with jewelry ; 
so let their graves be decent. Gather all round the 
rose and cedar. These are fitting decorations. Mute 
pious as they are, they can discourse to us of departed 
friends, being lively emblems of their beauty while on 
earth, of the evergreenness of their immortal graces, 
and of their paradise of jubilating joy. 



THE GRAVE. 



319 



To learn our duty in every stage of life, we must 
listen to Jehovah. To-day, as always, we need his 
word to guide us. Assembled to consecrate a place 
for the burial of our dead, with what forms must we 
proceed ? The oracle answers not. It prescribes to 
us no consecrating ritual. Left to our discretion we 
would at least be sober. If we err let it be on the 
side of sweet simplicity. This scene is not a panto- 
mime. We have no forms of consecration. Super- 
stition hath her ceremonies unprescribed by Script- 
ure ; but just devotion consecrates. To impure or 
careless hearts what are forms but rash irreverence ? 
The precept of the Bible bows our knees in prayer ; 
but does it sprinkle holy water on the place of graves ? 

We are not assembled, then, for the display of mute 
and inexpressive forms. These Heaven does not chal- 
lenge at our hand. Neither does revelation urge, nor 
enlightened reason sanction, them. Such things we 
leave to children ; and, in them, they are rather to be 
pardoned than approved. Under the Christian dispen- 
sation, consecrating acts are become a deep and in- 
ward work. A pure or contrite heart alone can exe- 
cute them. Whoever wears these priestly robes is 
qualified to minister. For spiritual sacrifices, he is 
clothed with apostolic power. 

What then ? Though we waive all outward forms, 
yet contrite hearts and tears will serve us better. 
Happy they who can afford them, for they are choicer 
than all unctions, more precious than the burial oint- 
ment of our Lord. But do we fear, lest by craft of 
man or devil, our bodies come to lodge in unconse- 
crated ground ? It can not be, unless we desecrate 



320 



ADDRESSES. 



the soil. The grave of every saint is blest. Jesus 
wrought the work when he lay within the tomb. He 
is therefore said to have perfumed the grave, because, 
as fragrance delights our senses, so, through his 
death and burial, the tomb hath pleasant odors. Its 
prisoners rest in hope. Christ has almost wed the 
grave to the everlasting throne. He passed from 
crucifixion to burial, and from burial to heaven. Thus, 
greatly to our comfort, he has blended in close union, 
death, the grave, and the glory that shall follow. 

Go, then, and excavate your tombs. Fill yonder 
ground with the victims of disease. Cluster them all 
along the banks of yonder stream. Make the careless 
passer along your shaded avenues start and shudder 
at the thickening monuments which shall soon, with 
peering ghastliness, look out upon his walks. But 
when days on earth are ended, and the lamps of night 
shall no longer shed their feeble beams upon these 
graves, may we and our children, then sleeping in this 
dust, ascend, like Jesus, from the sepulcher to the 
throne ! 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



321 



V. 

SPEECH ON THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW, 

Before the General Conference in New York, May 27, 1844. 

The Rev. J. B. Finley, of Ohio, had offered a preamble and resolu- 
tion as a substitute for a previous one introduced by Rev. A. Griffith, 
of Baltimore. The substitute of Mr. Finley was as follows : 

"Whereas, the Discipline of our Church forbids the doing any thing calculated 
to destroy our itinerant general superintendency ; and whereas, Bishop Andrew has 
become connected with slavery, by marriage and otherwise, and this act having drawn 
after it circumstances which, in the estimation of the General Conference, will greatly 
embarrass the exercise of his office as an itinerant general superintendent, if not, in 
some places, entirely prevent it ; therefore, 

"Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Conference that he desist from the 
exercise of this office, so long as this impediment remains." 

It was the fifth day of the discussion of this substitute, and the sixth 
day of the discussion of the general subject, that Mr. Hamline arose 
as a delegate to speak. It was a moment of the profoundest interest 
to the Church, and, as was then already felt, to the nation as well. 
The speech readjusted the whole debate, brought it back to its proper 
limits, and completely obviated all legal and prudential objections to 
the passage of the resolution, which was subsequently passed — yeas, 
in; nays, 69. It was commonly admitted, by the members of the 
Conference, that this speech would determine his election to the Epis- 
copal office, and he was accordingly elected Bishop eleven days later. — 
Editor. 

I DO not rise, Mr. President, with the hope that I 
shall "communicate light" on the topics before us 
but rather for the purpose of imploring light from 
others. It can not be unkind in me to suggest that 
this discussion has taken an unprofitably wide range ; 
for many whispers within the bar, and the complaints 



322 



ADDRESSES. 



of several speakers on the floor, show that this is the 
case. We have drawn into the debate many ques- 
tions which have but a very slight connection with 
the propositions contained in the resolution. I would, 
if possible, call the attention of the Conference from 
matters so remote to the real issue in the case. It 
is complained that we seem to have forsaken all ar- 
gument, and a call is made for our "strong reasons." 
We ought, indeed, to argue on both sides. And, if I 
should not do it, I will, at least, refrain from address- 
ing a word to the galleries, or to the spectators. 

There ought to be two questions before us. 

First. Has the General Conference constitutional 
authority to pass this resolution ? 

Second. Is it proper or fitting that we should do it ? 

The first question should be first argued ; but so 
far it has scarcely been touched. If we have not 
authority to pass the resolution, to discuss its expe- 
diency is surely out of place ; for it can never be ex- 
pedient to violate law, unless law violates justice. I 
shall leave the question of expediency to others, or 
only glance at it ; but I ask your attention to the 
topic of conference authority. 

The resolution proposes to suspend the exercise of 
a bishop's functions on a certain condition to be per- 
formed by him. If I mistake not, the resolution is a 
mandamus measure. Its passage will absolutely sus- 
pend the exercise of the superintendent's functions, 
until he complies with the prescribed condition. The 
measure of power required to do this is the same 
which would be requisite to suspend or depose a 
bishop for such reasons as the resolution mentions, or 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 323 

in other words, for " improper conduct!' Have we, 
then, such authority ? I shall assume that we have ; 
hoping, if I prove nothing, to provoke proof, pro or 
con, from the brethren who surround me. 

I argue this authority in the General Conference, 
first, from the genius of our polity on points which the 
most nearly resemble this. Strict amenability in 
Church officers, subordinate and superior, is provided 
for in our Discipline. From the class-leader upward, 
this amenability regards not only major but minor 
morals — not only the vices, but also the improprieties 
of behavior. The class-leader, by mere eccentricity, 
becomes unpopular in his class ; the pastor, at discre- 
tion, removes him from his office. The exhorter, or 
unordained local preacher, proves unacceptable, and a 
quarterly conference refuses to renew his license. 
The itinerant pastor is not useful in charge, and the 
bishop, or the presiding elder, deposes him from his 
charge, or from the pastoral office, and makes him an 
assistant. The presiding elder impairs his usefulness 
on a district, not by a gross 7/z#/feasance, but by a 
slight 7/wfeasance ; or, oftener still, because "he is 
not popular," and the bishop removes him to a station 
or a circuit, and perhaps makes him an assistant. I 
speak not now of annual appointments, when the term 
of the itinerant expires by limitation, but of re- 
movals by the bishop, or the presiding elder, in the 
intervals of Conference, which always imply a depos- 
ing from office, as well as a stationing act. In all 
these instances, the manner of removing from office 
is peculiar. First. It is summary, without accu- 
sation, trial, or formal sentence. It is a ministerial, 



3^4 



ADDRESSES. 



rather than a judicial, act. Second. It is for no crime, 
and generally for no misdemeanor, but for being "un- 
acceptable." Third. Most of these removals from of- 
fice are by a sole agent, namely, by a bishop or 
preacher, whose will is omnipotent in the premises. 
Fourth. The removing officer is not legally obliged to 
assign any cause for deposing. If he do so, it is 
through courtesy, and not as of right. Fifth. The 
deposed officer has no appeal. If indiscreetly or un- 
necessarily removed, he must submit ; for there is no 
tribunal authorized to cure the error, or to rectify 
the wrong. But we believe that there are good and 
sufficient reasons for granting this high power of re- 
moval to those who exercise it. It promotes religion. 
It binds the Church in a strong and almost indisso- 
luble unity. It quickens the communication of heal- 
ing influences to the infected and the enfeebled parts 
of the body-ecclesiastical. In a word, it is a system 
of surpassing energy. By it, executive power is sent 
in its most efficient form, and without loss of time, 
from its highest sources or remotest fountains, through 
the preachers and class-leaders, to the humblest mem- 
ber of the Church. The system is worthy of all 
eulogy. 

We will now inquire as to the bishop. In his case, 
is this strong feature of Methodism lost sight of? Is 
he, who can at discretion, by himself or by his agents, 
remove from office so many, among whom are thou- 
sands of his co-ordinates or peers, subject in turn to 
no such summary control ? We have seen that to 
lodge this power of removal in superior, and impose 
submission to it on inferior, officers is the fashion of 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



325 



Methodism. She loves the system. She carries it 
up through many grades of office until we reach the 
bishop. Does it suddenly stop there ? If so, on 
what ground ? I can conceive none. If any can, let 
the reasons be arrayed before us. I can perceive 
none, Mr. President, in being ; but I can conceive 
them possible under given circumstances. In Church 
and in State there must always be an ultimate or su- 
preme authority, and the exercise of it must be inde- 
pendent, so far as systematic responsibility is con- 
cerned. But is the Episcopacy in regard to this 
question supreme ? Certainly not. The General 
Conference, adjunct in certain exigencies with the 
Annual Conferences, is the ultimate depository of 
power in our Church. And I beg to dwell here ; for, 
in the second place, I shall argue our authority to de- 
pose a bishop summarily for improprieties morally in- 
nocent, which embarrass the exercise of his functions, 
from the relations of the General Conference to the 
Churchy and to the Episcopacy. 

This Conference, adjunct (but rarely) with the An- 
nual Conferences, is supreme. Its supremacy is uni- 
versal. It has legislative, judicial, and executive su- 
premacy. Its legislative supremacy consists of "full 
poivers to make rules" as the Discipline words it. 
This is full power for quasi legislation. Under self- 
assumed restrictions, which are now of constitutional 
force and virtue — especially as they originated in a 
General Conference, composed, not of delegates, but 
of traveling preachers — it can make rules of every 
sort for the government of the Church. The restric- 
tions are few and simple. They embrace our Articles 



326 



ADDRESSES. 



of Religion, the ratio of representation, the perpetu- 
ity of episcopacy, and the general superintendency, 
the general rules, trial by committee and appeal, and 
the avails of the Book Concern. Beyond these slender 
restrictions, its legislation is legitimate and conclusive ; 
and within them it is so, if the members of the An- 
nual Conferences are consenting. 

Now, Mr. President, in legislation the bishop has 
not only peers, but more than peers. In clerical or- 
ders, every man on this floor is his equal ; but in leg- 
islative functions, his superior. Can you contribute 
the uplifting of a hand for or against a Conference act ? 
You may not do it. The Discipline, which we shape 
at pleasure, defies your touch. You may not, in this 
regard, breathe upon it. You may not spread the 
plaster upon a patch which we, ad libitum, apply 
to its weak parts. If the Conference, by a tie, 
fail to do what is desirable to be done, and — like the 
philosopher's starving brute, caught centrally between 
two heaps of hay — can not escape from the dilemma, 
I believe it is doubted by the College of Bishops 
whether the President can come to our rescue by a 
casting vote. 

This Conference has judicial supremacy. It is a 
court of appeals beyond which no parties can travel 
for the cure of errors. It is the dernier resort not 
only of appellants, but of original complainants. You, 
sir, must stand or fall by its sole decision. If it err, 
which is not a legal presumption, its unwholesome 
error is incurable, except by the vis medicatrix — the 
medicinal virtue — of its own judicial energies. Nor 
has a bishop part or lot in its court action. He is 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. T> 2 7 

constituted the judge of law in an inferior tribunal, 
but not here. His lips are sealed in this august 
body, and, except when himself is concerned, he may 
not rise as an advocate either for the Church, or for 
an implicated party. It would be treason to do so. 
It would be a most offensive deed, like the bribing of 
a judge, or a covinous communing with a juryman. 
So naked, sir, of judicial prerogatives is the bishop in 
this Conference. Every member on the floor wears 
the ermine, which you may not assume. Each of us 
blends in himself the functions of both judge and 
juryman, to which you are an utter stranger. And, 
in the mean time, you are liable, as I suppose, to be 
stripped by us of those other high prerogatives of 
which, by our countenance, you now hold investiture. 
You see, then, that as a bishop you are both elevated 
and depressed. In regard to legislative and judicial 
prerogatives, when you went up you went down. 
Your station in the General Conference is a peculiar 
eminence. Your high seat is not at all terrific in con- 
cealed, or out-beaming, power. It is like a gallery 
of disabilities, where, as a spectator of tragedy, you 
can do little more than admire or reprobate the piece, 
and smile or frown upon the actors. But, sir, such 
as it is, you and we approve it, and you would be as 
unwilling as ourselves to see your prerogatives changed 
by increase or diminution. You are high up and low 
down ; and all (but yourselves most of all) are content 
that we — as we mean by grace to do — should keep 
you up, and keep you down. 

But, from the legislative and judicial functions of 
the Conference, I proceed to its executive, or minis- 



328 



ADDRESSES. 



terial. Here I may be approaching debatable ground. 
But, as I wish to provoke truth, and gather instruc- 
tion from others, I will venture to advance, leaving, 
if you please, a bridge of retreat, if hemmed in at 
last, to that discreet refuge. All will consent, I sup- 
pose, to the doctrine of Conference supremacy in the 
two points stated above. They will grant that this is 
our ecclesiastical legislature, and the high court — 
curia maxima — of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

But has it also executive functions — and are these 
supreme, or all-controlling? So I affirm ; but it is for 
argument, and not with the least design to utter a 
mere proverb, or to impose my dictum on the Confer- 
ence. I beg all, sir, to hear and remember this em- 
phatic disavowal. I proceed, then, to argue — having 
affirmed it as a mere logical formula — that the Gen- 
eral Conference is clothed with supreme executive 
functions. I will strive both to sustain it, and to 
commend it to your favor. 

First, then, the General Conference is the fountain 
of all official executive authority. It is the " Croton 
River' of that system of executive ministrations 
which flow in healthful streams throughout our Zion. 
I know, sir, that between this fountain and the Church 
members, who are the remote points of minute dis- 
tribution, there are interposed several reservoirs of 
this ministerial authority. The episcopacy is one, 
and the chief reservoir. The pastorship is another. 
The class-leaders are the small channels through 
whom passes to the door of each one's heart in the 
class-room a measure of the disciplinary influences of 
the Church. What is objected, sir, to this view of 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 329 

the subject ? Will it be disclaimed that the Confer- 
ence is this fountain ? Can you advise me where else 
than here executive authority takes its rise ? Whence 
do you gather these life -preserving waters ? From 
the Constitution. That, sir, is a very brief instru- 
ment, and its provisions can be scanned in two min- 
utes. Show where its authority creates the machin- 
ery of a Church administration. Does it provide one 
wheel or spring? It seems to me, sir, that, like God 
in Eden, who planted but did not till the garden, re- 
signing that delightful task to man, so our Constitu- 
tion says to this General Conference, Under such 
and such restrictions you are commissioned with 
"full powers to make rules and regulations for" culti- 
vating the fields of Methodism. Full powers for 
what? For two things. First, "to make rules." 
That is legislation, sir, as it stands related to other 
powers of the Conference. But is this all it can do ? 
No. It has full power, also, "to make regulations''' 
for the government of the Church. What is a regu- 
lation ? To appoint a preacher to a field of labor is a 
regulation. To remove him to another field is a reg- 
ulation. To elect and empower a bishop to do this 
for us is a regulation. To recall that bishop to his 
former station is a regulation. Now "what a man 
does by another he does himself" is a maxim in law. 
The General Conference may make these regulations 
without a bishop, and leave him a less onerous super- 
intendence, or the Conference may make these regu- 
lations by a bishop, and multiply the toils of his su- 
perintendence. 

That the Conference has authority executive is 
28 



330 



ADDRESSES. 



indisputable. For the bishop derives his authority 
from the Conference. Are not answers first, second, 
third, and eighth, to question third, in section fourth, 
statutory provisions? Do they not convey authority 
to the bishops? If those answers were blotted out by 
a resolution of this Conference, would the bishops pro- 
ceed to execute the duties therein prescribed ? This 
General Conference clothes them with these powers ; 
and can the Conference convey what it does not pos- 
sess ? Can it impart to bishops what was not in- 
herent in itself up to the time of conveying it ? The 
Conference has these powers. Every thing conveyed 
as a prerogative to bishops, presiding elders, preach- 
ers, etc., by statutory provision, and not by the con- 
stitution or in the Restrictive Rules, was in the Gen- 
eral Conference, or it was mockery thus to grant it, 
and the tenure of these officers is void, and their 
seizin tortious. They should be challenged then as 
to their authority. Now, sir, all that this Conference 
can confer it can withhold. And whatever it can con- 
fer and withhold, it can resume at will, unless a con- 
stitutional restriction forbids it. It can resume then 
all the powers granted to a bishop by its own act, ex- 
cept such prerogatives as are essential to episcopacy 
and superintendency. As to the Episcopacy, which 
we may not do away, the power to ordain is essential 
to its being, and whether, so far as it is concerned, 
the whole of section fourth, with that exception, 
might not be constitutionally expunged, is doubtful. 
Not that I would have it expunged. But I am now 
arguing the question of Conference power, and not 
of ecclesiastical expediency. I love the Episcopacy 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 33 I 

just as it is ; and reverence for the office emulates 
in my bosom a sister passion — affection for the ven- 
erable men who occupy it — affection for them all ; 
every one. 

Here, Mr. President, let me say a word concerning 
our Church constitution. It is a remarkable instru- 
ment. It differs cardinally from most, or all civil con- 
stitutions. These generally proceed to demark the 
several departments of government — the legislative, 
judicial, and executive — and by positive grant, assign 
each department its duties. Our constitution is dif- 
ferent. It does not divide the powers of our govern- 
ment into legislative, judicial, and executive. It pro- 
vides for a General Conference, and for an episco- 
pacy and general superintendency. It leaves all the 
powers of the three great departments of govern- 
ment, except what is essential to an episcopacy, etc., 
in this General Conference. It restricts us slightly 
in all our powers, but not in one department more 
than in another. Under this constitution the Confer- 
ence is as much a judicatory as a legislature ; and 
it is as much an executive body as either. What is 
there in the constitution to distinguish the three de- 
partments of our governmental authority ; or to be- 
stow one and withhold another ? The grant of power 
to us is in mass, and no more excludes the executive 
than it does either of the sister departments. And 
that our powers are administrative do we not declare, 
when we demand at each General Conference the 
minutes of every Annual Conference, and by the 
"Committee on the Itinerancy" inspect and pass judg- 
ment on them ? And when, too, the administration 



332 



ADDRESSES. 



of our bishops is put under a severe inquisition, and 
a committee reports approval or disapproval ? Surely, 
if any thing could, this proves that the Conference 
assumes to be supreme in administration, else why 
does that administration thus appeal to this Confer- 
ence in the last resort ? Why, sir, the streams of 
these administrative acts took their rise here, and, like 
running waters to the ocean, they return hither to 
their source. How unlike those of the President to 
the American Congress, with which I have heard 
them compared, are the relations of the Episcopacy 
to this Conference ! The Constitution of the United 
States gives Congress its powers, and the President 
his. Each exists independent of the other. The 
term, the duties, the privileges of the President are all 
fixed by Constitutional provision. The Presidency, 
as an office, and the incumbency of it, are plainly 
designated. Our Church constitution recognizes the 
Episcopacy as an abstraction, and leaves this body 
to work it into a concrete form in any hundred or 
more ways we may be able to invent. We may make 
one, five, or twenty bishops ; and if we please one 
for each Conference. We may refuse to elect an- 
other until all die or resign ; and then, to maintain 
the Episcopacy, which we are bound to do, we must 
elect one, at least. As to his term, we may limit it 
at pleasure, or leave it undetermined. But in this 
case is it undeterminable? Certainly not. The power 
which elected may then displace. In all civil consti- 
tutions, as far as I know, not to fix an officer's term, 
is to suspend it on the will of the appointing power. 
Cabinet ministers and secretaries are examples. No 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 333 

officer as such can claim incumbency for life, unless 
such a term be authoritatively and expressly fixed 
upon. 

I now reach a point of my argument to which I so- 
licit particular attention. It has been urged privately, 
by very many, that we have no authority to displace 
a bishop, except for crime and by formal trial. And 
they who advocate it tell us to look into section fourth, 
page 28, and we shall be convinced. Well, what now 
is section fourth to us, in a question of this sort? 
That whole section is statutory. Were it a part of our 
Church constitution, it might be invoked as authorita- 
tive. Mere rules as they are, and alterable by us in 
ten minutes, by two Conference votes, they expressly 
recognize our authority to " expel a bishop for im- 
proper conduct." Why, then, urge any thing in the 
fourth section against this pending resolution ? If 
there was no express rule for deposing a bishop, we 
should still be competent to depose. And for this 
plain reason : whatever this Conference can consti- 
tutionally do it can do without first resolving that -it 
has power to do it — without passing a rule into the 
Discipline declaring its authority. The power of this 
Conference is derived, not from its own enactment^ 
but from the constitution. Is there any thing in the 
restrictive articles which prohibits the removal or 
suspension of a bishop ? This will not be pretended, 
and of course nothing in our own statutes can deprive 
us of powers conferred on us by the higher authority 
pf the constitution. 

Let me explain. Suppose Congress should, under 
the pressure of any causes, calculated to blind or con- 



334 ADDRESSES. 

fuse it, deny its powers to raise revenues for the sup- 
port of government, would it be bound by its own act? 
The very next day it might proceed to exercise the 
self-prohibited power, and for this reason — the pro- 
hibition is by Congress, but the grant of that which 
is prohibited is by the Constitution, which is binding 
on Congress, in despite of its own opposing action. 
So with this Conference. Suppose the fourth section 
provided that this body "has not power to depose a 
bishop for improper conduct, if it seem necessary." 
We should still have power to depose, because the 
constitution confers it, and that is paramount to all 
our resolutions and statutes. We can not by our en- 
actments divest ourselves of constitutional powers, 
no more than man, made in God's image, and about 
to inhabit God's eternity, can spurn the law of his 
being, and divest himself of free agency and immor- 
tality. 

Now let me proceed after the manner of mathe- 
maticians. We have seen, if I mistake not, that a 
provision in the 4th section, page 28th, declaring our 
incompetency to depose, would still leave us free to 
do it, because the superior authority of the constitu- 
tion confers the power. Much more then may we 
depose if, instead of a statute forbidding it, the Dis- 
cipline is silent on the subject. But much more still 
may we depose, if, instead of silence, there is a ride 
for deposing as well as the constitutional warrant. 
I do not claim this for demonstration, albeit I have 
chosen such a mode of reasoning ; but unless I greatly 
err the argument claims some regard. Now, sir, 
there is a rule which many of us believe applies to 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 335 

this case, in the answer to Question 4th, page 28th — i 
"To the General Conference, who have power to ex- 
pel him for improper conduct, if they see it neces- 
sary." Let it be noticed that in harmony with what 
I have said concerning our constitutional power, this 
rule does not convey authority, else the auxiliary 
" shall " would be used. It does not say the General 
Conference shall have authority, which is the style 
used in creating constitutional prerogatives. The 
language of the rule is simply declaratory, recogniz- 
ing a power already existing. Let us notice cer- 
tain phrases in this declaratory rule. "Have power 
to expel," sets forth the extent to which we may pro- 
ceed in our efforts to guard against the consequences 
of a bishop's improprieties. The expulsion contem- 
plated is doubtless from office. For though depose is 
the word generally used in such connections, expel 
is not less significant of the thing. To put out of 
office is expulsion. If any dispute, and say the ex- 
pulsion must be from orders, or from the Church, 
we answer, a power to expel from Church is cer- 
tainly equal to the power of removing from office. 
The child who has license to play all day, needs not 
dread the rod for playing half a day ; and the boy 
who is told he may ride ten, can not disobey by rid- 
ing five miles. That argument is hard pushed which 
resorts to the phrase, "have power to expel," to 
prove that the Conference has not power to depose. 
"Improper conduct," means less than imprudent con- 
duct. Imprudence carries our thoughts to the neigh- 
borhood of crime. It means a want of wisdom to a 
degree which involves exposure and harm. Improper 



336 



ADDRESSES. 



means simply not suitable, or unfitting. The usus lo- 
quendi in the Discipline forbids us to assume that in 
some generic sense it embraces crime. Whatever is 
unfitting a bishop's office, and would impair his use- 
fulness in the exercise of its functions, is embraced, 
I conceive, in the phrase "improper conduct." In 
the Discipline it is used in contradistinction from 
crime. And it is never treated as crime in the ad- 
ministration, except when a private member, after fre- 
quent admonitions, obstinately refuses to reform. In 
such a case obstinacy itself becomes a criminal state 
of mind, and may procure expulsion. Finally, the 
phrase, "if they see it necessary," sheds light on 
the whole paragraph. It proves that improper does 
not mean criminal ; for then it would be necessary, 
and the condition would be useless. The phrase 
accords to the Conference discretionary power, and 
invites them to proceed on the ground of "expedi- 
ency," of which some have loudly complained. They 
may expel him, if they see it to be proper or expe- 
dient — that is, if his improprieties injure his useful- 
ness in the high office where our suffrages placed 
him. 

My mind, sir, (if not my words,) has all along dis- 
tinguished between orders and office. The sum- 
mary removals which I have noticed are from office, 
and not from the ministry. In regard to ordained 
preachers, these two rules will hold : first, they can 
not be expelled from the ministry summarily, but 
must have a trial in due form ; second, they can not 
be expelled for " improper conduct," but only for a 
crime clearly forbidden in the Word of God. These 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



337 



rules, with few exceptions, will apply to private mem- 
bers, who may be removed from the leader's or stew- 
ard's office at any time, without notice, trial, or cause, 
assigned. But they can not usually be expelled from 
the Church without trial, or the offer of trial ; nor for 
improper conduct, unless it become incorrigibly ob- 
stinate, and then it assumes the character of crime. 
The principles which apply to members and preach- 
ers, should govern us in regard to bishops. They 
ought not to be expelled from the ministry for <( im- 
proper conduct," nor without due notice and trial. 
But if others, they too may be deposed from office 
summarily, and for improprieties which, even if they 
be innocent, hinder their usefulness, or render their 
ministrations a calamity. That the bishop's is an 
office, is, I suppose, conceded. True, we ordain him ; 
but we may cease to ordain, and by suspending the 
Conference rule which requires a day's delay, may 
immediately blot from the Discipline these words, 
page 26, "and the laying on of the hands of three 
bishops, or at least of one bishop and two elders." 
Would not this harmonize our practice and our prin- 
ciples ? 

I shall not dwell longer, Mr. President, on the 
question of Conference authority. We have seen 
that when clerical orders or membership in the 
Church is concerned, crime only, or obstinate impro- 
priety, which is as crime, can expel. This is Meth- 
odism. We have seen, on the other hand, that as to 
office, removals from it may be summary, and for 
any thing unfitting that office, or that renders its ex- 
ercise unwholesome to the Church. I have urged 

29 



333 



ADDRESSES. 



that all ranks of officers are included up to the point 
where the officer has no superior ; which never hap- 
pens with us, because the General Conference, under 
certain restrictions, is the depository of all power, 
legislative, judicial, and executive. I urged this fash- 
ion of Methodism as applicable especially to a bishop, 
because his superior influence will render his impro- 
prieties proportionably more embarrassing and inju- 
rious to the Church. 

I have argued that the Conference has power, from 
the grant of the constitution, which is a catholic 
grant, embracing all, beyond a few enumerated re- 
strictions, to try a bishop for crime and to depose him 
summarily for " improper conduct." Is this hard on 
the bishop? Does he not summarily remove at dis- 
cretion, all the four years round, two hundred presid- 
ing elders, and two thousand of his peers ; and shall 
he complain that a General Conference, which is a 
delegated body — in a word, that all these two thou- 
sand peers of his, whose authority converges through 
the channels of representation, and concentrates here, 
should do to him what he so uniformly does to them ? 
Shall one elder holding a high office at our hands be 
so puissant, that, like the sun in the heavens — though 
he be a planet still, and in his office reflects no light 
which we have not shed upon him — he must bind and 
control all, but is in turn to be controlled by none? 
No, sir. This Conference is the sun in our orderly 
and beautiful system. Look into the Discipline. First, 
you have our "Articles of Religion," in which God ap- 
pears. What is next in order? The General Con- 
ference, which, like the orb of day, rises to shed light 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



339 



on the surrounding scene. It is first shaped or fash- 
ioned, and then, like Adam by his Maker, is endowed 
with dominion, and made imperial in its relations ; 
and saving the slight reservations of the constitution, 
it is all-controlling in its influence. Let it never be 
lost sight of, that the General Conference is "the sun 
of our system!' 

I said, Mr. President, that if I noticed the question 
of expediency, it would be only by a glance. I will 
remark, generally, that in determining what is proper, 
after having ascertained what is lawful, we should 
look two ways. As first in importance we should con- 
sider the interests of the Church. Second, we should 
consult the feelings of the officer. And we should 
inquire as to the Church, how is she likely to be af- 
fected by the improper conduct of her officer? Will 
she be locally and slightly embarrassed, or extensively 
and severely? If the injury threatened will be con- 
fined to a small district and will probably be slight and 
ephemeral, we may bear it. But if it be likely to fall 
on large districts and work great evils, producing 
strife, breaking up societies, and nearly dissolving- 
Conferences ; and if calamities so heavy are likely to 
be long-continued and scarcely ever end, the call for 
summary proceedings on the part of this Conference 
is loud and imperative. If in such circumstances she 
decline to act, will she not betray her trust, and dis- 
honor God? In regard to the officer, it should be 
inquired if the unfitness he has brought on himself 
for his sphere of action was by some imperative ne- 
cessity, and if not, whether it was in presumable ig- 
norance of the grief and misfortunes he was about 



340 



ADDRESSES. 



to inflict on our Zion ? Or must he have known 
what would follow, so that his act proceeded from, or 
at least was associated with, some degree of indif- 
ference, if not of wantonness, in regard to results ? 
These things, sir, should be well weighed in settling 
the question of expediency. 

A bishop's influence is not like a preacher's or class- 
leader's. It is diffused like the atmosphere, every- 
where. So high a Church officer — I will not say, sir, 
Conference officer, though just now I take you to be 
such, at least for the time being — I say so high a 
Church officer should be willing to endure not slight 
sacrifices for this vast connection. What could tempt 
you, sir, to trouble and wound the Church all through 
from center to circumference? The preacher and the 
class-leader, whose influence is guarded against so 
strongly, can do little harm- — a bishop infinite. Their 
improper acts are motes in the air — yours are a pes- 
tilence abroad in the earth. Is it more important to 
guard against those than against these ? Heaven 
forbid ! Like the concealed attractions of the heavens, 
we expect a bishop's influence to be all-binding every- 
where — in the heights and in the depths — in the cen- 
ter and on the verge of this great system ecclesiastical. 
If, instead of concentric and harmonizing movements, 
such as are wholesome, and conservative, and beau- 
tifying, we observe in him irregularities which, how- 
ever harmless in others, will be disastrous or fatal in 
him, the energy of this body, constitutionally supreme, 
must instantly reduce him to order, or if that may 
not be, plant him in another and a distant sphere. 
When the Church is about to suffer a detriment 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



341 



which we by constitutional power can avert, it is as 
much treason in us not to exercise the power we have, 
as to usurp in other circumstances that which we have 
not. 

[To the argument of Mr. Hamline no attempt at reply was made ; 
except by Dr. Smith, of Virginia, and Mr. Winans, of Mississippi. 
To the latter Mr. Hamline made no response ; to the former he replied 
only in a few brief explanations. Having declined to interrupt Dr. 
Smith while on the floor, at the conclusion of his long speech, Mr. 
Hamline obtained leave to explain as follows :] 

First. Dr. Smith says "he (Mr. Hamline) brought 
you to the conclusion that Bishop Andrew had acted 
improperly." 

Ans. I did not name Bishop Andrew, or any other 
bishop. I intended to argue, not to accuse ; and if 
I carried you to that conclusion, as he says, whether 
it was by argument or not, it could not have been by 
confident assertion as to Bishop Andrew's conduct. 

Second. I argued that a bishop may be displaced 
at the discretion of the Conference, when in their 
opinion it becomes "necessary" on account of im- 
proper conduct, and, I might have said, without im- 
proper conduct on his part, so far as constitutional 
restrictions are concerned. 

Third. I never said, as brother Smith affirms, that 
the administrative powers of this Conference are "ab- 
solute." I said they are "supreme!' Absolute means 
"not bound." This Conference is bound in all its 
powers, whether legislative, judicial, or executive, by 
constitutional restrictions. "Supreme" means that 
while acting within its constitutional limits, its decis- 
ions are final, and all-controlling. 

Fourth. As to my use of the word legislative, the 



342 



ADDRESSES. 



hypercriticism of brother Smith would apply to the 
use of the term judicial with equal force ; for prop- 
erly the Conference has neither the functions of a leg- 
islature nor of a court. I used the term as it is used 
every five or ten minutes by all around me. And it 
is amusing that brother Smith should have fallen 
into the very fashion for which he reproves me. He 
said if the Conference does this " it acts above law!' 
Now where there is no legislation there can be no 
law. I commend to him, in turn, the report of 1828, 
which has long been familiar to me, and of which 
I most cordially approve ; yet I presume that he, as 
well as myself, will continue to use the only con- 
venient terms, legislation and law, to distinguish one 
class of Conference powers from another. 

Fifth. As to the assertion that the analogy be- 
tween bishops and inferior officers will not hold, be- 
cause this Conference is not responsible for its action 
as removing officers are, I answer: this Conference is 
responsible to the constitution, and if it wished to bind 
itself not to remove a bishop, it could call on the An- 
nual Conferences to aid it in assuming a constitu- 
tional restriction. Not having done so, proves that 
it intends to hold this power, and execute it when 
necessary. 

Sixth. As to the abolition address charged on me, 
the Conference may be surprised to learn, that it 
was a colonization address ; and was so acceptable 
that the Colonization Society in Zanesville published 
it in pamphlet form. Moreover, a friend of mine 
forwarded a copy, without my knowledge, to Mr. Gur- 
ley, of Washington City, who noticed it with unraer- 



THE CASE OF BISHOP ANDREW. 



343 



ited commendation in the African Repository, the 
official organ of the American Colonization Society, 
and gave extracts from it to the public. Surely the 
brother is too magnanimous to have attempted to 
counteract the force of my argument by misrepre- 
senting, and rendering me personally odious. As to 
my exerting my slender influence for evil ends at 
home, I must submit to be judged by my own Confer- 
ence, who will know how to estimate the value and 
the motive of the insinuation. 



Part hi. 
THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



I. 

WHAT IS IT TO BE HOLY? 

" TF sanctified throughout," says a tempted follower 
-L of Jesus, " why is it thus with me ? I am often 
without joy ; sometimes my mind is not perfectly 
composed ; now and then my communion with God 
is interrupted ; again, I suffered severe inward con- 
flicts ; I am frequently unconscious of any thing like 
triumph ; and, finally, I can not always, in these dis- 
tresses, understand my condition, but am perplexed in 
regard to my religious state." 

Let us consider, one by one, these several particu- 
lars, and see if each of them may not consist with an 
entirely sanctified state. 

i. Does entire sanctification imply perpetual joy ? 
From all we can learn, by consulting the written tes- 
timony of deceased and living witnesses, and by con- 
versing with those who bear the fruits of perfect love, 
this is far from being the case. Mrs. Upham says, 
"The prevailing state of my mind has been in no wise 
that of high emotions. On the contrary, there has 
been great calmness, placidity, and quiet of mind. 1 ' 

347 



348 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



This is the concurrent testimony of the pure in heart. 
None who profess perfect love should be shaken in 
mind, because their state is not one of high and joy- 
ful excitement. 

2. " Sometimes my mind is not perfectly composed!' 
This also may be true of the sanctified. The mind 
may become hurried, through its connection with the 
body, that is, by nervous influences. It may also be 
discomposed through ignorance or misconception. In 
any such cases, mental disquiet does not certainly in- 
fer un sanctified affections. 

3. "Now and then my communion with God is inter- 
rupted!' This may be a mistake in regard to fact. 
What is communion with God ? It does not neces- 
sarily imply unceasing rapture in prayer — nor an un- 
varying sense of God's presence and smile — nor an 
equally distinct apprehension at all times of his love 
to us — nor an unchanging degree of assurance that we 
are now accepted of him. Faith without joy is com- 
munion with God. Christ communed with him when 
he said, " Thy will be done !" Fellowship with him, 
in any other sense, is not essential to entire sanctifi- 
cation. 

4. " / snffer inward conflicts!' Yes, and so do all 
the sanctified. Can there be war without conflict ? 
The Christian's state on earth is militant. He is 
sanctified to prepare him for conflict. Those who 
are most holy are often set in the front of battle. 
They are Zion's " forlorn hope." God has trained 
them for his "van-guard." They, above all Christians, 
should look for sharp conflicts. They are detailed to 
commence assaults on Satan, and lead the sacramental 



WHAT IS IT TO BE HOLY? 



349 



host in holy onset against his legions. Of course they 
are marks for his arrows. All hell is aiming at their 
overthrow. One of these, cast down, is better for 
the cause of sin than the discomfiture of regiments 
of mere subalterns. Conflicts all the sanctified shall 
have. It is peculiarly their heritage. The Lord 
leads them into the hottest of the battle, that in and 
through them his grace may be made known, and 
the name of the blessed Jesus glorified. " At times," 
says Mrs. Upham, " I have not been exempt from se- 
vere conflicts. Heart-searching and soul-trying ques- 
tions have come up before me." The author of the 
" Way of Holiness " testifies the same. The sancti- 
fied have always assured us of this fact. The apos- 
tles confirm it, and Jesus Christ himself is a witness. 
Without conflicts, then, we can not even deem our- 
selves sanctified. 

5. " / am frequently unconscious of any tiling like 
triumph." Perhaps so. But is it strange, since this 
is our battle-field? The soldier first fights and then 
triumphs. But, if infallibly secure of victory, he 
ought to maintain hope. This or that man may fall 
at his side, the carnage may be terrible, this or that 
wing of the army may now and then waver, or even 
begin to give way, the foe may press on exultingly, 
and seem to be bearing down all ; yet if assured that 
the tide of battle will soon turn, he should hope, and 
bear himself courageously. But he can not just then 
triumph. The shout of exultation is at present with 
the enemy. You say you do "not triumph." Fight, 
and you shall triumph by and by. 

" Finally, I am often perplexed in regard to my relig- 



350 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



ious state!' This involves the intellect, rather than 
the affections. Entire sanctification does not imply 
perfect self-knowledge. If it did, we need not be 
told to "examine ourselves." We may wish to know 
too much. If we understood all, we should have no 
need to trust. Faith refers many things to God, with 
confessions of our ignorance. We may know, and 
ought to know our general state, as that God has 
changed and sanctified our hearts. But we must not 
expect to know all the minute processes of the train- 
ing work of the Spirit. Grace, as well as providence, 
is mysterious in many of its stages. We may know 
enough of both ; but we can not know all of either. 
It is enough, for instance, to be assured that God can 
not err — that all his works are done in wisdom; 
and that, ultimately, he will bring forth " our right- 
eousness as the light," if we will simply "trust, and 
not be afraid." 

To engross our thoughts briefly, we conclude that 
entire sanctification is not, first, a state of perpetual 
rejoicing ; second, nor of constant composure ; third, 
nor of uninterrupted rapturous communion with God ; 
fourth, nor of perpetual freedom from conflict; fifth, 
nor of constant inward triumph; sixth, nor of un- 
varying clear-sightedness in regard to our inward 
states. 

And now, to confirm these propositions, let us 
glance at the blessed Redeemer. In him, as the son 
of man, we have a perfect example of entire sanc- 
tification. Let us, then, examine whether he was 
always in possession of the six things above enu- 
merated. 



WHA T IS IT TO BE HOL Y? 



351 



1. Was he "perpetually joyful?" Turn to Matt, 
xxvi, 38, and Mark xiv, 34, and read his own words : 
" My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death!' 
The original denotes the greatest anguish — an inex- 
pressible horror of soul. From his history we should 
infer that, in the common acceptation, our Savior was 
seldom joyful. He had no remorse, as none of his 
faithful followers have. But whose " sorrow was like 
unto his sorrow ?" The prophets and evangelists 
represent him as " a man of sorrows, and acquainted 
with grief." The latter speak of him as rejoicing 
only once during the whole course of his ministry, 
while a characteristic scene of his life is that where, 
descending the declivity of Olivet, he sheds his tears, 
and makes his lament over the devoted metropolis of 
his country. If the disciples of Christ are often sor- 
rowful, let them not forget that "his countenance" 
was " so marred more than any man, and his visage 
more than the sons of men." 

2. Did Christ maintain undisturbed mental compos- 
tire? Certainly not. It was generally true of him, 
as it is of his faithful disciples, that while he suffered 
he had peace. But, in regard to both, may not the 
general rule, " sorrowing, yet always rejoicing," have 
some exceptions, to display, as in the case of Job, 
the efficacy of grace, and the glory of God ? The 
scene of agony above referred to forbids the suppo- 
sition that the mind of Jesus was never disquieted. 
The narrative states that he began to be "sore 
amazed!' or in a state of overwhelming consternation. 

3. Had Jesus uninterrupted communion with the 
Father? In the sense of confidence, or resignation, 



352 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



doubtless he had. But we doubt whether he always 
had such communion as implied a sense of the 
Father's smile. If he had, why that expiring excla- 
mation, '"My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken 
me ?" As man, he was then forlorn of the supporting 
presence of his Father. Bishop Hall says, "The 
words ' why hast thou forsaken me ?' imply that God 
had, for the time, withdrawn from him the sense and 
vision of his comfortable presence." Dr. Scott under- 
stands by this expression "the total want of the light 
of God's countenance on his soul." 

4. Had our Savior perpetual freedom from severe 
conflict ? Alas ! his was a life of conflict. It had 
scarcely any intermissions. Persecution without, and 
temptation within, harassed him from hour to hour. 
Follow him to the wilderness, where, for forty days, 
he endured the assaults of Satan in the most cruel 
form, being tempted even to fall down and worship 
the prince of the power of the air. And after a trial 
so severe and protracted, the devil departed from him 
a " little season " only. 

5. It is scarcely necessary to say that Jesus did 
not always triumph. To withstand is not properly 
to triumph. He always withstood. Never, under 
the severest assaults, did he yield, or begin to yield 
to the adversary. But he often withstood, in the 
midst of fearful anguish, such as no tongue can de- 
scribe. So terrible were his conflicts that angels were 
sent from heaven to comfort him. Triumph implies 
exultation, which, both with Christ and his followers, 
is the fruit of overcoming, but is not found in the 
mere struggle to overcome. 



WHAT IS IT TO BE HOLY? 



353 



Lastly. Was Jesus, as man, always aware of the 
necessity of his present sufferings ? Were his own 
mental states fully understood by himself, in their re- 
lations to the salvation of man, and the government 
of God ? We hesitate to reply according to our 
private convictions, lest we should seem inventive, 
and rash in our conclusions. But with the Bible be- 
fore us, we will venture to say, no. And for proof 
we refer to Matt, xxvi, 39, and xxvii, 46. The first 
reads, " If it be possible, let this cup pass from me ?" 
The other is, " Why hast thou forsaken me ?" These 
expressions, with an if and a why, indicate that, in 
his amazement and agony, the Savior did not appre- 
hend the exact purpose of the Father's dealings with 
him. He knew not as to the " cup," whether it was 
strictly necessary for him to drink it ; or if neces- 
sary, wherefore. And he knew not, on the cross, 
why " God had forsaken him." In both cases the 
anguish of his soul was enhanced by a certain dark- 
ness of mind, which rendered his sorrows more in- 
tense, and was the bitterest ingredient of the cup. 

In conclusion, let us remember, " as He is so are 
we in this world." " It is enough that the servant 
be as his Lord." Christ, as to his human nature, was 
sanctified. His life is a pattern for us. Whatever 
he was in his humanity, and no more, we may, 
through grace, become. He was " holy, undented, 
and separate from sinners." Thus we should be. 
But on the other hand, he was not, as we have seen, 
always joyful or composed, or in blissful communion 
zvith the Father, or free from conflicts, or in a state 
of triumph, or, as a man, fully aware of the ends ot 

30 



354 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



his suffering states. Yet, in all these particulars, a 
certain something, which was their unvarying con- 
comitant, rendered him "holy and undefiled." If we 
can determine what that certain something was, we 
shall have discovered in what the holiness of the 
sanctified consists. And can we not perceive that 
perfect resignation marked all the Savior's suffering- 
states ? " Not my will but thine be done !" Herein 
was he holy. Under whatever sorrows his soul was 
burdened and oppressed, this was his temper. And 
this is the sum of all creature holiness. Where 
there is perfect resignation there is a perfect reign 
of grace. " Not my will but thine /" Humble dis- 
ciple, so long as thou canst feel and speak after this 
example, whether in joy, or in sorrow — in composure, 
or in disquiet — in more or less intimate approaches 
to God — in rest, or in the severest conflicts — over- 
whelmed, or triumphant — in light, or in darkness as 
to the reasons of God's procedure, thou art sanctified 
throughout ; and looking unto Jesus, the author and 
finisher of thy faith, be steadfast and immovable, al- 
ways abounding in the work of the Lord. Satan de- 
sires to have thee that he may sift thee as wheat; 
but Christ hath prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. 
If Satan shake thy confidence, he has half conquered 
thee already. He will never cease to war against 
thy faith. And that he may succeed in this, he will 
accuse thee in many ways. He will strive to con- 
vict thee of error in self-judging — of having pro- 
fessed too much. To all his insinuations let this be 
thy reply, "Get thee behind me, Satan," then turn to 
thy Savior and say, / will believe. He will never re- 



WHAT IS IT TO BE HOLY? 



buke thy faith. Cleave to him more closely, and, 
proving thy bold confidence, he shall keep thee in 
thy ways, and crown thee his forever. 

"Commit thou all thy griefs 
And ways into his hands, 
To his sure trust and tender care, 
Who earth and heaven commands; 
Who points the clouds their course, 
Whom winds and seas obey, 
He shall direct thy wand'ring feet, 
He shall prepare thy way. 

Thou on the Lord rely, 

So safe shalt thou go on ; 
Fix on his work thy steadfast eye, 

So shall thy work be done. 

No profit canst thou gain, 

By self-consuming care; 
To him commend thy cause, his ear 

Attends the softest prayer. 

Thine everlasting truth, 

Father, thy ceaseless love, 
Sees all thy children's wants, and knows 

What best for each will prove ; 

And whatsoe'er thou will'st, 

Thou dost, O, King of kings ! 
What 's thy unerring wisdom's choice, 

Thy power to being brings. 

Thou every-where hast sway, 
And all things serve thy might ; 

Thine every act pure blessing is, 
Thy path unsullied light ; 
When thou arisest, Lord, 
What shall thy work withstand? 

When all thy children want, thou giv'st; 
Who, who shall stay thy hand?" 



356 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



II. 

THE MILLENNIUM. 

THE word millennium signifies a thousand years. 
In theology it denotes a coming period of the 
universal spread and prevalence of holiness. As to 
its manner, there are two different opinions. The first 
is, that Christ will reign personally on the earth, and 
that the martyrs and eminent Christians will rise from 
the dead, and share in his terrestrial reign. Others 
argue that Christ will not appear in person, but will 
come by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that the 
resurrection of the martyred saints denotes only the 
restoration of their holy, self-denying tempers to the 
hearts of Christians. 

The former opinion has been embraced by thou- 
sands of learned and pious men. Justin Martyr, 
who wrote in the second century, earnestly supports 
it. He claims that in his day it was the commonly 
received opinion. In modern times, Dr. Gill, Bishop 
Newton, Mr. Kett, and others of equal eminence, 
adopted this view of the subject. Recently, some of 
the most respectable divines in Europe and America 
have become converts to the same faith. It is said 
that, in England, such men as Baptist Noel and Bick- 
ersteth are its firm adherents. The opinion is gain- 
ing advocates among learned American divines. 

If we are correctly informed, Mr. Wolff, the con- 
verted Jew, now a presbyter of the Church of En- 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



357 



gland, and a sincere and zealous minister of Christ, 
has extensively propagated this view of the millen- 
nium in the English Church. To him, more than to 
any other, may its present currency be traced. It is 
said that he deems this view of the prophecies im- 
portant in regard to the conversion of the Jews. 

Some of the ablest living expositors of Scripture in 
the West agree with this opinion. A few openly ad- 
vocate it. Whether it gains or loses ground among 
the clergy, we can not say. Our clerical acquaint- 
ances hold, for the most part, that the millennium will 
be a period of unexampled religious prosperity, in 
which Christ will have spiritual dominion from sea 
to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. 
This is our own opinion, and for the following reasons : 

1. The prophecies which relate to Christ's millen- 
nial reign are highly figurative in their style. This is 
the case with the Book of Revelation. To interpret 
the fourth verse of the twentieth chapter as simply 
implying a restoration of the spirit of the martyrs to 
the Church, seems to us a warrantable license, taking 
into view the genius of the Apocalypse. Should we 
insist on the literal sense uf this text, why not also 
on the passages which describe the binding of Satan 
with a great chain, or the flight of the woman into 
the wilderness ? 

2. The personal reign of Jesus on earth is hardly 
consistent with some portions of Scripture, especially 
those texts which speak of his second advent. "And 
it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this 
the judgment ; so Christ was once offered to bear the 
sins of many ; and unto them that look for him shall 



358 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



he appear the second time without sin unto salva- 
tion." Here the judgment and the "second coming" 
are connected in a way that precludes the millennial 
advent. 

3. The passage in Revelation xx, 4, speaks not of 
the* bodies, but of the souls of the martyrs. " I saw 
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus, and for the Word of God ; and they lived and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years." How natu- 
ral to interpret this as denoting the restoration to the 
Church, in her millennial state, of the purity and zeal 
which glowed in the hearts of her ancient confessors! 
As Elijah was restored to the world in the person of 
John the Baptist, of whom the Savior said, "Elias 
hath already come ;" so the ancient witnesses will re- 
turn in the persons of many holy ministers, who shall 
not count their lives clear unto them, if they may 
but minister as becomes the Gospel, and finish their 
course with joy. Happy Church, and blessed period, 
when a martyr's spirit shall glow in every pious 
bosom ! And " the time is at hand." There are 
signs which none need to mistake, of the near ap- 
proach of the Savior's universal dominion. He shall 
soon "take to himself his great power, and reign 
King of nations, as he is King of saints." 

As to the commencement of this happy period, we 
have little to say concerning it. It is near at hand. 
Of this there can be no doubt. How near — whether 
at the door, or one, twenty-five, or one hundred 
and fifty years distant — can be of very little conse- 
quence. Too much may have been written already 
on this point. It is important to believe firmly that 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



359 



it is near: but what practical benefit could result 
from knowing the day or the year ? 

It seems to us unadvised to draw the attention of 
the Church to what may properly be called curious 
and unlearned questions. And have we not done it 
in regard to the millennium ? Its exact period, its 
mode of commencing, its implications as it regards 
the personal coming of Christ, are of no great prac- 
tical moment, or they would have been revealed so 
clearly as not to admit of pros and cons. These 
are unlearned questions — that is, they are unlearn- 
able, not being set forth with certainty in the Script- 
ures. The fact that they are not, is a hint to 
man. He should let them alone, or at least touch 
them lightly and diffidently. Over and above mere 
hints, we are admonished to "avoid" them. "It is 
not for us to know the times and seasons which God 
hath put in his own power." Creatures can not tell us 
the when of these things, nor the how in any precise 
detail. Why should we, launching on the sea of God's 
providence, attempt to navigate regions which the 
chart he has given does not cover ? Let us explore 
where he offers pilotage and anchorage. Let us bear 
away from sources uninvited and unwarranted, and 
betake ourselves to the voyage on which he sends us. 
He commissions us to sail in the regions of repent- 
ance, and afterward in the regions of faith and love. 
When we have circumnavigated these fields, and have 
no more discoveries to make or depths to sound, let 
us strive how many we can take in convoy over the 
regions we have so thoroughly explored. When we 
have the world in our wake, and not a craft on its sur- 



360 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



face is heading toward perdition, then — no, not even 
then may we launch beyond the limits of our com- 
mission ! Then we will cast anchor, and wait for 
further orders. 

Some think these things are revealed. If revealed, 
why so much labored argument? why so many and 
differing opinions ? If revealed, they are facts, and 
should be presented as clearly as the facts of history. 
What orthodox couplet of high or low Churchmen 
ever debated whether there shall be a resurrection 
and a judgment — whether there is a heaven or a hell ? 
These are Gospel postulates with all but infidels. 
So is the millennium ; but not its period, nor the 
manner of Christ's coming to dwell among his saints ; 
whether in person, or by the presence of the Com- 
forter. Let us hold on to the postulate then, and 
make good use of it, but leave all else where God is 
pleased to leave it. Let us hold on to the postulates, 
that courage and zeal may not be wanting in the 
warfare whose issues involve this holy, blessed mil- 
lennium. 

III. 

THE HOLY GHOST. 
T^vO the ministers of Christ in their sermons, and 



do private Christians in their prayers and medi- 
tations, give clue heed to the great Scripture doctrine 
of the Third Person in the Godhead? We fear not. 
And if not, how may the error be corrected ? Doubt- 




THE HOL Y GHOST. 



361 



less, by a reform in our pulpit ministrations. Let 
ministers preach with all diligence what the Script- 
ures reveal to us concerning the Holy Ghost, both 
as regards his character and his offices. 

As it regards his character, the Scriptures teach 
that the Holy Ghost is God. The proof, as commonly 
stated, is : 

I. The personality of the Holy Ghost. He is not 
an attribute, effluence, or mode of operation, of the 
Godhead, but a distinct person of the adorable Trinity. 
This is proved, first, from the application to him of 
the personal pronoun, not by a figure of speech, but 
in a formal statement. In a most solemn announce- 
ment of his distinct office, and his manifestation to 
believers, Jesus says : "I will pray the Father, and he 
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the 
world can not receive because it seeth him not, nei- 
ther knoweth him ; but ye know him, for he dwelleth 
with you, and shall be in you." "But the Comforter, 
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
in my name, he shall teach you all things." " The 
Spirit of Truth ... he shall testify of me." " If I go 
not away the Comforter will not come, but if I depart 
I will send him unto you. And when he is come 
he will reprove the world," etc. "When he, the Spirit 
of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ; 
for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he 
shall hear that shall he speak ; and he will show r you 
things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall 
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All 
things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said 

31 



362 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



I that he shall take of mine and shall .show it unto 
you." " He that searcheth the hearts knovveth what 
is the mind of the Spirit, because he [the Spirit] 
maketh intercession for the saints according to the 
will of God." John xiv, 16, 17, 26; xv, 26; xvi, 7, 8, 
13, 14, 15; Rom. vii, 27. Here, then, are no less 
than twenty-three places where the masculine pro- 
noun is applied to the Holy Spirit. 

Secondly, the personality of the Holy Ghost is 
proved from his distinct agency and works in the plan 
of redemption. As Christ, by his incarnation and 
atonement, made provision for the salvation of all 
mankind, so the Holy Spirit's office is to make this 
provision personally available to each fallen descend- 
ant of Adam. Thus he convinces and reproves men 
of sin, John xvi, 8-1 1 ; helps human infirmity in order 
to the acceptable performance of duty, Rom. viii, 26 ; 
regenerates the heart, John iii, 5 ; sanctifies our na- 
ture, 2 Thess. ii, 13 ; 1 Pet. i, 2 ; leads us into all truth, 
by unfolding to our minds the spiritual meaning of 
the written Word, and the mysteries of the kingdom 
of God, John xvi, 13-15 ; helps the memory to recall 
and use the words of Christ which we have read, 
John xiv, 26 ; witnesses our regeneration and adoption 
into God's family, Rom. viii, 15, 16; Gal. iv, 6; causes 
the love of God to us, which is a doctrinal truth, to 
become a personal and blessed experience, Rom. v, 5 ; 
creates in the Church divers gifts for the edification 
of the body of Christ, 1 Cor. xii, 4-13. In this last 
remarkable passage, what is said to be done " by the 
Spirit," in verses 8, 9, II, is said in verse 6 to be done 
by the "same God which worketh all in all," and in 



THE HOLY GHOST. 



363 



verse 5 he is called "the same Lord." See also Heb. 

ii, 4, where they are called "gifts of the Holy Ghost." 
Compare also the baptism of Pentecost, Acts ii, 3, 4. 
It is also the office of the Holy Ghost to bear, through 
his manifold gifts, graces, and fruits, a distinct and 
independent testimony to the Divine mediation of 
Jesus Christ, John xv, 26. It need only be added 
that the Holy Spirit's office work is shadowed forth 
by one of the holy sacraments of the Church — water 
baptism — which denotes the inward "washing of re- 
generation and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Titus 

iii, 5 ; compare Matt, iii, 11 ; Acts i, 4, 5. 

In the passages already cited it is to be considered 
that the expressions denote a distinct personality. 
The language forbids the assumption that one person 
is acting in different modes of manifestation, under 
the different titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
Christ, the Son, is represented as "going away," as a 
necessary preliminary to his "sending the Comforter." 
"If I depart, I will send him unto you." In another 
place, he says: "The Father will send the Comforter 
in my name." Again he says, the Spirit of Truth 
"shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you," 
and immediately adds, " all that the Father hath is 
mine." No intelligible meaning can be attached to 
these words on the assumption that the Godhead 
subsists in only one personality ; but the blessed doc- 
trine of the holy and mysterious Trinity subsisting in 
the Godhead, and revealed to us in the economy of 
redemption under the titles of Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghos, each operating in distinct and glorious mani- 
festation, makes all plain. 



3<H 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



2. Incommunicable Divine attributes are ascribed to 
the Holy Ghost. These are ubiquity, eternity, omnis- 
cience, and omnipotence. These attributes can not 
belong to creatures, and are claimed by the Scriptures 
as the exclusive property of Jehovah. " Do not I fill 
heaven and earth, saith the Lord ? Heaven is my 
throne, and earth is my footstool. The fullness which 
filleth all in all. In Him we live, and move, and have 
our being. Whither shall I go from thy presence?" 
Thus God is omnipresent. 

This omnipresence is ascribed to the Holy Ghost. 
He is said to dwell in us. He helps the infirmities 
of the saints by making intercession for them. He 
convinces the world of sin. He renews the heart of 
each one who enters into the kingdom of God. Now, 
as the varied offices of the Spirit, in behalf of the 
whole human race, are indispensable to salvation ; 
and as the progressive work of grace in the hearts of 
all believers, and all awakened penitent sinners, is 
going on simultaneously in all parts of the earth, it 
follows that the Holy Spirit must be omnipresent. 

3. Absolute eternity belongs exclusively to God. 
Psalm cii, 24-27. This text not only asserts God's 
eternity, but asserts it as his distinguishing attribute. 
The second verse of the 90th Psalm as explicitly asserts 
this attribute of Jehovah as it is possible for language 
to do : " Before the mountains were brought forth, or 
ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even 
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Reason 
teaches us that God is absolutely eternal — from eternity 
and to eternity. He is uncaused, and, of course, un- 
derived and eternal. If underived, he is independent ; 



THE HOL Y GHOST. 



365 



and, of course, nothing can affect his being in future. 
But the Holy Ghost is eternal. He moved at the 
beginning of creation, as the Scriptures inform us, 
upon the face of the waters. In the New Testament, 
where the doctrine of the distinct personality and 
deity of the Holy Spirit is revealed, he is expressly 
called " The Eternal Spirit." Speaking of his agency 
in the work of salvation, and contrasting the dura- 
tion of his personal presence with believers with the 
limited mission of the incarnate Son of God upon the 
earth, Jesus says : " He shall abide with you forever." 
Now, as eternity belongs to God alone, and as the 
Holy Ghost is called the " Eternal Spirit," and as his 
abiding with the saints is without limit of duration, it 
follows that the Holy Ghost must be God. 

4. Another exclusive attribute of the Godhead is 
omniscience. The 139th Psalm is a most sublime 
description of God's omniscience, or rather meditation 
upon it. And not now to dwell upon the fact that 
the Psalmist here ascribes to God and to his Spirit, 
indifferently, the same searching knowledge, we turn 
to the New Testament. Here, speaking directly to 
the point of the office of the Holy Spirit, the apostle 
says : " For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
deep things of God." "Even so, the things of God 
knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." 1 Cor. ii, 
10, 1 1. He is hence called the " Spirit of Truth," and 
the " Spirit of Wisdom." All truth, all knowledge of 
God, comes by the Holy Spirit. He moved the " holy 
men of old " to speak and write, and he now " leads 
into all truth." No affirmation of omniscience could 
be more absolute than in the words, " He searcheth 



366 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



all things, yea, the deep things of God," and " He shall 
take of mine and show it unto you. All things that 
the Father hath are mine. Therefore said I, he shall 
take of mine and show it unto you." John xvi, 14, 
15. Thus the Holy Ghost is God, because he is 
omniscient. 

5. Omnipotence is ascribed to the Holy Ghost; 
that is, works which omnipotence alone could accom- 
plish, are attributed to his agency. The angel said to 
Mary, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and 
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; 
therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of 
thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke i, 35. 
Jesus wrought his miracles by the power of the Holy 
Ghost : " If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, 
then the kingdom of God is come unto you." Matt, 
xii, 28. Paul wrought his miracles by the power of 
the Holy Ghost. Speaking of them, he says the 
things which he had " wrought by word and deed," 
were through mighty signs and wonders "by the 
power of the Spirit of God." Rom. xv, 19. Peter says 
that " Christ was put to death in the flesh, but quick- 
ened [brought to life] by the Spirit." 1 Pet. iii, 18. 
Paul also says, " the Spirit raised up Christ from the 
dead." Rom. viii, 11 ; compare chap, i, 4. 

But not to pursue this argument in detail, it is 
enough to say that if the personality of the Spirit is 
clearly established, and his oneness with the Father 
and the Son made clear, and the works of God also 
are ascribed to him, the proof of his Deity is com- 
plete. These amply appear from what we have ad- 
duced. The Gospel of John is unexplainable on any 



THE HOLY GHOST. 



3fy 



other hypothesis. It teaches on these points no 
other doctrine. But let us pause over this profound 
revelation of the Godhead, which is so clearly brought 
out in the New Testament, and indulge in a few prac- 
tical reflections. 

1. From what is certainly said concerning the Holy 
Ghost, it is plain that all the revelations of God to 
man are through his agency. We speak of written rev- 
elations, and all spiritual manifestations to men. Thus 
the written revelation was given through "holy men 
of old," who " spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost." Paul says : "All Scripture is given by inspi- 
ration of God." These two passages give the corol- 
lary that the Holy Ghost is God. Thus, also, those 
works of Christ and his apostles, and of the ancient 
prophets and holy men, whether of miracles, teaching, 
or prophecy, which were for the enlightenment of 
men on the character of God, his government, redemp- 
tion, human duty and destiny, were all done by the 
agency of the Holy Ghost. The system of redemp- 
tion brings out the full knowledge of the blessed 
Trinity. The Father is the representative of law and 
government, yet so loves the world as to give his Son 
to redeem it. The Son, who represents the plan of 
atonement and mediation, offers himself as a willing 
Mediator, humbles himself to be born of a woman, 
teaches, works miracles, suffers, makes atonement, 
intercedes, - and by his life, death, resurrection, and 
intercession, makes it possible, that is, morally con- 
sistent for God to forgive sins. The Holy Spirit co- 
works in this blessed plan, and becomes the immediate 
agent of all divine manifestation to man, and of all 



368 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



acceptable human approach to God. " The things of 
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." He is 
the " Spirit of truth," the " Spirit of wisdom and rev- 
elation," the author of gifts and worker of miracles in 
the Church, the " Spirit of prophecy," the convincer of 
sin, the " Comforter," the regenerator and sanctifier, 
the "helper" of human "infirmities." Thus, the Holy 
Ghost represents the practical efficacy and power of 
the Gospel. " Here the whole Deity is known." 

2. What hopeful, comforting, and yet peaceful light 
does this cast upon our relations to the Holy Spirit ! 
If all our dependence is on Christ as the only Media- 
tor and High-Priest with God, who has made "a full, 
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfac- 
tion for the sins of the whole world," our dependence 
is no less total, through that atonement, upon the 
Holy Ghost, for all true knowledge and sensibility of 
sin, all godly sorrow and repentance, all saving grace, 
all personal fitness for heaven, all help to make our 
calling and election sure ; in short, for all outward 
revelations of truth, and all inward saving applica- 
tions of the same. To do "despite to the Spirit," to 
"grieve the Holy Spirit," to "blaspheme the Holy 
Ghost," to " resist " him, is to put salvation from us 
as effectually as though Christ had never died. 



A RM INI A NISM. 



369 



IV. 



ARMINIANISM. 



HE system of doctrines taught by James Ar- 



J- minius received by his opponents the name 
which stands at the head of this article. Nevertheless, 
it was the same which was taught by the Primitive 
Church, which is found in Scripture, and to which 
the current produced by the soberest criticism of 
all ages, and the spread of pure religion, universally 
conducts us. Indeed, the strict Calvinistic system, 
though for a time inculcated by its author, Mani- 
chaeus, and its supporters in the Christian Church, 
can not now pass at all among its professed adherents, 
without embracing among its principles the leading 
points of the Arminian system. The recently pub- 
lished life of Episcopius furnishes us with a consider- 
able amount of matter which places this subject, as 
we think, in a very clear light, and we have thought 
it of importance to present the results of the gifted 
biographer before our readers, as this will be well 
worth their attention and perusal. The followers of 
Arminius were called also Remonstrants, because they 
remonstrated against the treatment they received from 
the States of Holland and the Synod of Dort. In 
their declaration respecting the five points, we find 
the following expression of their faith. Their opin- 
ion concerning children is somewhat curious, and 
shows what revolting doctrines strict Calvinism 




370 



THE OL GICAL ESS A VS. 



teaches respecting the salvation and perdition of in- 
fants, or children. The Arminian doctrine stands thus : 
I. On Predestination. 

1. God never decreed to elect any man to eternal life, or to 
reprobate him from it, by his mere will and pleasure without 
any regard to his foreseen obedience or disobedience, in order 
to demonstrate the glory of his mercy and justice, or of his 
power or absolute dominion. 

2. As the decree of God concerning both the salvation and 
destruction of every man is not the decree of an end absolutely 
fixed, it follows that neither are such means subordinated to 
that decree, as through them both the elect and the reprobate 
may efficaciously and inevitably be brought to the destined end. 

3. Wherefore, neither did God with this design in one man, 
Adam, create all men in an upright condition, nor did. he ordain 
the fall or even its permission, nor did he withdraw from Adam 
necessary and sufficient grace, nor does he now cause the Gospel 
to be preached and men to be outwardly called, nor does he 
confer on them the gifts of the Holy Spirit, (he has done none 
of these things with the design,) that they should be means by 
which he might bring some of mankind to life everlasting, and 
leave others of them destitute of eternal life. Christ the Me- 
diator, is not only the executor of election, but also the founda- 
tion of the very decree of election itself. The reason why 
some men are efficaciously called, justified, persevere in faith, 
and are glorified, is not because they are absolutely elected to life 
eternal ; nor is the reason why others are deserted and left in the 
fall, have not Christ bestowed upon them, or, further, why they 
are inefficaciously called, are hardened and damned, because 
these men are absolutely reprobated from eternal life. 

4. God has not decreed, without the intervening of actual 
sins, to leave by far the greater part of mankind in the fall, and 
excluded from all hope of salvation. 

5. God has ordained that Christ shall be the propitiation for 
the sins of the whole world ; and, in virtue of this decree, he 
has determined to justify and save those who believe in him, 
and to administer to men the means which are necessary and suf- 
ficient for faith, in such a manner as he knows to be befitting 
his wisdom and justice. But he has not in any wise determined, 
in virtue of an absolute decree, to give Christ as a Mediator 



A R MINI A NISM. 



in 



for the elect only, and to endow them alone with faith through 
-an effectual call, to justify them, to preserve them in the faith 
and to glorify them. 

6. Neither is any man by some absolute antecedent decree 
rejected from life eternal, nor from means sufficient to attain it; 
so that the merits of Christ, calling, and all the gifts of the Spirit, 
are capable of profiting all men for their salvation, and are, in 
reality, profitable to all men, unless by an abuse of these bless- 
ings they pervert them to their own destruction. But no man 
whatever is destined to unbelief, impiety, or the commission of 
sin, as the means and causes of his damnation. 

7. The election of particular persons is absolute, from con- 
sideration of their faith in Jesus Christ, and their perseverance, 
but not without consideration of their faith and of their perse- 
verance in true faith as a prerequisite condition in electing them. 

8. Reprobation from eternal life is made according to the con- 
sideration of preceding unbelief and perseverance in the same, 
but not without consideration of preceding unbelief or persever- 
ance in it. 

9. All the children of believers are sanctified in Christ ; so 
that not one of them perishes who departs out of this life prior 
to the use of reason. But no children of believers who depart 
out of this life in their infancy, and before they have in their 
own persons committed any sin, are on any account to be reck- 
oned in the number of the reprobate ; so as that neither the 
sacred laver of baptism is, nor are the prayers of the Church, 
by any means capable of profiting them to salvation. 

10. No children of believers who have been baptized in the 
name of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, and while 
in the state of infancy, are by an absolute decree numbered 
among the reprobate. 

11. On the Universality of the Merit of Christ. 

1. The price of redemption which Christ offered to his Father 
is in and of itself not only sufficient for the redemption of the 
whole human race, but it has also, through the decree, the will, 
and the grace of God the Father, been paid for all men and 
every man ; and therefore no one is by an absolute and ante- 
cedent decree of God positively excluded from all participation 
in the fruits of the death of Christ. 

2. Christ, by the merit of his death, has thus far reconciled 
God the Father to the whole of mankind — that he can and will, 



372 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



without injury to his justice and truth, enter into and establish a 
new covenant of grace with sinners and men obnoxious to dam- 
nation. 

3. Though Christ has merited for all men and every man rec- 
onciliation with God and forgiveness of sins, yet, according to 
the tenor or terms of the new and gracious covenant, no man is 
in reality made a partaker of the benefits procured by the death 
of Christ in any other way than through faith ; neither are the 
trespasses and offenses of sinful men forgiven prior to their act- 
ually and truly believing in Christ. 

4. Those only for whom Christ has died are obliged to be- 
lieve that Christ has died for them. But those whom they call 
reprobates, and for whom Christ has not died, can neither be 
obliged so to believe, nor can they be justly condemned for the 
contrary unbelief ; but if such persons were reprobates, they 
would be obliged to believe that Christ has not died for them. 

III. and IV. On the Operation of Grace in the Con- 
version of Man. 

r. Man has not saving faith from and of himself, nor has he 
it from the powers of his own free-will ; because in a state of sin 
he is able from and of himself to think, will, or do nothing that 
is good, nothing that is indeed savingly good ; of which descrip- 
tion, in the first place, is saving faith. But it is necessary that, 
by God in Christ through his Holy Spirit, he should be regen- 
erated and renewed in his understanding, affections, will, and 
in all his powers, that he may be capable of rightly understand- 
ing, meditating, willing, and performing such things as are sav- 
ingly good. 

2. We propound the grace of God to be the beginning, the 
progress, and the completion of every good thing ; so that even 
the man who is born again is not able without this preceding 
and prevenient, this exciting and following, this accompanying 
and co-operating grace, to think, to will, or to perform any 
good, or to resist any temptations to evil; so that good works, 
and the good actions which any one is able to find out by think- 
ing, are to be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. 

3. Yet we do not believe that all the zeal, care, study, and 
pains, which are employed to obtain salvation, before faith and 
the spirit of renovation, are vain and useless ; much less do we 
believe that they are more hurtful to man than profitable. But, 
on the contrary, we consider that to hear the Word of God, to 



A R MINI A NISM. 



373 



mourn on account of the commission of sin, and earnestly to 
seek and desire saving grace and the spirit of renovation, (none 
of which is any man capable of doing without Divine grace,) 
are not only not hurtful and useless, but that they are rather 
most useful and exceedingly necessary for obtaining faith and 
the spirit of renovation. 

4. The will of man in a lapsed or fallen state, and before the 
call of God, has not the capability and liberty of willing any 
good that is of a saving nature, and therefore we deny that the 
liberty of willing as well what is a saving good as what is an 
evil, is present to the human will in every state or condition. 

5. Efficacious grace, by which any man is converted, is not 
irresistible ; and though God so affects the will of man by his 
Word and the inward operation of his Spirit, as to confer upon 
him a capability of believing, or supernatural power, and actually 
causes him to believe ; yet man is of himself capable to spurn 
and reject this grace, and not believe ; and, therefore, also to 
perish through his own culpability. 

6. Although, according to the most free and unrestrained will 
of God, there is very great disparity or inequality of Divine 
grace, yet the Holy Spirit either bestows, or is ready to bestow, 
upon all and upon every one to whom the Word of faith is 
preached, as much grace as is sufficient to promote in its grada- 
tions the conversion of men ; and, therefore, grace sufficient for 
faith and conversion is conceded not only to those whom God is 
said to be willing to save according to his decree of absolute 
election, but likewise to those who are in reality not converted. 

7. Man is able, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, to do more 
good than he actually does, and to omit more evil than he act- 
ually omits. Neither do we believe that God absolutely wills 
that man should do no more good than that which he does, and 
to omit no more evil than that which he omits; nor do we be- 
lieve it to have been determinately decreed from all eternity that 
each of such acts should be so done or omitted. 

8. Whomsoever God calls, he calls them seriously ; that is, 
with a sincere and not with a dissembled intention and will of 
saving them. Neither do we subscribe to the opinion of those 
persons who assert that God outwardly calls certain men whom 
he does not will to call inwardly ; that is, whom he is unwilling 
to be truly converted, even prior to their rejection of the grace 
of calling. 



374 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



9. There is not in God a secret will of that kind which is so 
opposed to his will revealed in his Word, that according to 
this same secret will he does not will the conversion and salva- 
tion of the greater part of those whom, by the word of his Gos- 
pel, and by his revealed will, he seriously calls and invites to 
faith and salvation. 

10. Neither on this point do we admit of a holy dissimulation, 
as it is the manner of some men to speak, or of a twofold pur- 
pose in the Deity. 

11. It is not true that, through the force and efficacy of the 
secret will of God or of the Divine decree, not only are all good 
things necessarily done, but likewise all evil things ; so that 
whosoever commit sin, they are not able, in respect of the 
Divine decree, to do otherwise than commit sin ; and that God 
wills, decrees, and is the manager of men's sins, and of their 
insane, foolish, and cruel actions, also, of the sacrilegious blas- 
phemy of his own name; that he moves the tongues of men to 
blaspheme, etc. 

12. We also consider it to be a false and horrible dogma, that 
God by secret means impels men to the commission of those 
sins which he openly prohibits ; that those who sin do not act 
in opposition to the true will of God, and that which is properly 
so called ; that what is unjust, that is, what is contrary to God's 
commands, is agreeable to his will ; nay, farther, that it is a 
real and capital fault to do the will of God. 

V. On the perseverance of true believers. 

1. The perseverance of believers in faith is not the effect of 
that absolute decree of God by which he is said to have elected 
or chosen particular persons circumscribed with no condition of 
their obedience. 

2. God furnishes true believers with supernatural powers or 
strength of grace, as much as according to his infinite wisdom 
he judges to suffice for their perseverance, and for their over- 
coming the temptations of the devil, the flesh, and the world ; 
and on the part of God stands nothing to hinder them from 
persevering. 

3. It is possible for true believers to fall away from true faith, 
and to fall into sins of such a description as can not consist with 
a true and justifying faith ; nor is it only possible for them thus 
to fall, but such lapses not unfrequently occur. 

4. True believers are capable by their own fault of falling into 



ARMTNIANISAL 



375 



flagrant crimes and atrocious wickedness, to persevere and die 
in them, and, therefore, finally to fall away and to perish. 

5. Yet though true believers sometimes fall into grievous sins, 
and such as destroy the conscience, we do not believe that they 
immediately fall away from all hope of repentance ; but we ac- 
knowledge this to be an event not impossible to occur — that 
God, according to the multitude of his mercies, may again call 
them by his grace to repentance ; nay, we are of opinion that 
such a recalling has often occurred, although such fallen be- 
lievers can not be "most fully persuaded" about this matter, 
that it will certainly and undoubtedly take place. 

6. Therefore do we with our whole heart and soul reject the 
following dogmas, which are daily affirmed in various publica- 
tions extensively circulated among the people, namely : (1.) 
"True believers can not possibly sin with deliberate counsel 
and design, but only through ignorance and infirmity." (2.) "It 
is impossible for true believers, through any sins of theirs, to 
fall away from the grace of God." (3.) "A thousand sins, nay, 
all the sins of the whole world, are not capable of rendering 
election vain and void." If to this be added, " Men of every 
description are bound to believe that they are elected to salva- 
tion, and therefore are incapable of falling from that election," 
we leave men to think what a wide window such a dogma opens 
to carnal security. (4.) " No sins, however great and grievous 
they may be. are imputed to believers ; nay, farther, all sins, 
both present and future, are remitted to them." (5.) " Though 
true believers fall into destructive heresies, into dreadful and 
most atrocious sins, such as adultery and murder, on . account 
of which the Church, according to the institution of Christ, is 
compelled to testify that it can not tolerate them in its outward 
communion, and that unless such persons be converted, they will 
have no part in the kingdom of Christ; yet it is impossible for 
them totally and finally to fall away from faith." 

7. As a true believer is capable at the present time of being 
assured concerning the integrity of his faith and conscience, so 
he is able and ought to be at this time assured of his own salva- 
tion and of the saving good-will of God toward him. On this 
point we highly disapprove of the opinion of the Papists. 

8. A true believer, respecting the time to come, can and ought, 
indeed, to be assured that he is able, by means of watching, 
prayer, and other holy exercises, to persevere in the true faith; 



376 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



and that Divine grace will never fail to assist him in persevering. 
But we can not see how it is possible for him to be assured that 
he will never afterward be deficient in his duty, but that he will 
persevere, in this school of Christian warfare, in the perform- 
ance of acts of faith, piety, and charity, as becomes believers ; 
neither do we consider it to be a matter of necessity that a be- 
liever should be assured of such perseverance. 

From the foregoing it will appear that there is not 
a tittle of the Pelagian heresy embraced in the true 
Arminian system. Nor is there any Socinianism, for 
in the same document there is contained a section on 
tJie holy Trinity, which teaches this doctrine in as full 
and clear a manner as it is held by the most orthodox. 
But notwithstanding the tenacity and firmness with 
which the Remonstrants held to the doctrines of hu- 
man depravity, atonement, divinity of Christ, etc., they 
were constantly branded for being heretics of the 
worst class, and charged with Pelagianism, Socinian- 
ism, and the like. No matter what they believed, 
unless they embraced the doctrine of particular elec- 
tion to eternal life, reprobation of the greater part of 
mankind, and a limited atonement, their opponents, 
the Calvinists, or contra-Remonstrants, constantly 
charged them with being heretics of the first order. 
It is not marvelous that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church should be charged in a similar manner. Ar- 
minianism and Pelagianism are still classed together, 
and placed in the rank of heresies ; and that, too, by 
persons and whole classes of men who introduce the 
leading principles of Arminianism, or Methodism, into 
their Calvinism, in order to make it pass at all with 
any show of consistency. 

The following articles of the Methodist Episcopal 



A R MINI A NISM. 



377 



Church will show at once to the reader that the doc- 
trines of Pelagius form no part of her creed : 

VII. Of Original or Birth Sin. 
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the 
Pelagians do vainly talk,) but it is the corruption of the nature 
of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of 
Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteous- 
ness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually. 

VIII. Of Free- Will. 
The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such, that he 
can not turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength 
and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have 
no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, 
without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we 
may have a good will, and working with us when we have that 
good will. 

IX. Of the Justification of Man. 
We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit 
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own 
works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith 
only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort. 

X. Of Good Works. 
Although good works, which are the fruits of faith and follow 
after justification, can not put away our sins, and endure the 
severity of God's judgments, yet are they pleasing and accept- 
able to God in Christ, and spring out of a true and lively faith, 
in so much that by them a lively faith may be as evidently 
known as a tree is discerned by its fruit. 

XI. Of Works of Supererogation. 
Voluntary works, beside, over, and above God's command- 
ments, which are called works of supererogation, can not be 
taught without arrogance and impiety. For by them men do 
declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they 
are bound to do, but that they do more for His sake than of 
bounden duty is required ; whereas Christ says plainly, When 
ye have done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofita- 
ble servants. 

32 



373 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



Thus the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church are at an equal distance from the system of 
Pelagius on the one hand, and from that of fatality 
and Antinomianism on the other hand. And yet this 
same form of doctrine is pronounced to be unsound, 
while its denouncers are constantly employing its 
heavenly principles to inculcate the horrible decree and 
its kindred doctrines. While we lament this incon- 
sistency and unfairness, we rejoice that the doctrines 
connected with a general atonement are promoted, 
though it should be in strife and envy. 



V. 

ARMINIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 

THE Herald has just brought us a second letter 
from a "distinguished minister," on the origin 
and progress of Arminianism in New England. Like 
the former, it dwells on the heterodoxy of the New 
Haven school, and especially in regard to the doc- 
trine of depravity. It refers to the publication of Dr. 
Taylor's " concio ad clerum" 1828, as the occasion of 
the controversy now existing in the Congregational 
Church. In this controversy the author of the let- 
ters represents the New Haven Theological School 
to be Arminian. Dr. Taylor, he assures us, led the 
way in this war — by preaching— what ? Let this 
"distinguished" letter-writer say what: 

"In explaining the nature of depravity, and of the sense in 
which it is by nature, Dr. Taylor was understood to advance prin- 



ARMINIA NISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 



379 



ciples utterly inconsistent with his main proposition — principles 
which lead to the conclnsio7i that there is in man no natural 
hei'editary propensity to sin, and that there was no real connec- 
tion between the sin of Adam and that of his posterity. Moral 
depravity he defines to be 'a man's own act, consisting in a free 
choice of some object rather than God as his chief good ; or 
a free preference of the world and worldly good, to the will and 
glory of God." By mankind being depraved by nature he 
says, 'I do not mean that their nature is itself sinful, nor that 
their nature is the physical or efficient cause of their sinning ; 
but I mean that their nature is the occasion or reason of their 
sinning ; that such is their nature, that in all the appropriate cir- 
cumstances of their being, they will sin and only sin.' But he 
elsewhere maintains, that all men came into the world with the 
same nature in kind as that with which Adam was created, and 
which the child Jesus possessed." 

Here, then, is one feature of that theological sys- 
tem which a minister of New England, in the pleni- 
tude of his wisdom, announces to the world as Armin- 
ianism ! Now, reader, lay your hand on the recent 
number of the Biblical Repository, or the last num- 
ber of the Western Advocate, containing extracts from 
the Repository, and read the views of Arminius, and 
Professor Stuart's opinions respecting them, and then 
say, do Arminius and Dr. Taylor appear to you un- 
der the same, or nearly the same, theological guise ? 
Certainly, if Dr. Taylor is, Arminius was not, an Ar- 
minian. But is it not the case, that they who are now 
called Arminians are very unlike Arminius himself? 
So hints the Rev. Professor Stuart, in the Biblical 
Repository. He vindicates Arminius, but with a 
protestando. He thinks that they who are now called 
Arminians would scarcely be acknowledged by the 
Leyden divine. If he is correct, if the Arminians of 
the present day have the New Haven heterodoxy 



33o 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



cleaving fast to them ; if they, bearing the name, have 
no more of Arminianism than many of another name 
have of Calvinism, why, then, Professor Stuart is right, 
and the letters of the New England minister may be 
right also. 

Of modern Arminians, who pass as such confess- 
edly and currently, the most eminent writers are 
Wesley, Fletcher, Benson, Clarke, and last, not least, 
the accomplished Richard Watson. Pity it is, indeed, 
that Professor Stuart had not prosecuted his investi- 
gation beyond the " life and times of Arminius," and 
extended them to the life and times of Watson. It 
would have been a grateful sight to have witnessed 
the learned Professor in conference with the giant- 
minded Watson ; and it would have been refreshing as 
Summer dews, to have heard through all the Churches 
the Professor's note of approval and admiration. But 
for the present let us go back to the times of Wesley, 
and ascertain how far he deviated from Arminius on 
the subject of human depravity, that being the theme 
of this second letter on the origin and progress of Ar- 
minianism in New England. Mr. Wesley wrote on 
this subject at large. It will be easy, therefore, to as- 
certain his views. His treatise on " Original Sin " 
formerly made a large i2mo volume, and now in the 
stereotype edition of his works occupies almost two 
hundred pages octavo. Let us introduce this treat- 
ise to your notice, by observing that Mr. Wesley is 
claimed by his friends, and accused by his foes, as an 
Arminian. He is reputed such, toto ccelo, just as much 
as Arminius himself. The " distinguished minister" 
who writes these letters presents to us the views of 



A RIMINI A A 7 ISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 38 1 



Dr. Taylor, of New Haven, and calls them Arminian- 
ism. But furthermore, he gives us to understand that 
Dr. Taylor, of New Haven, is nearly of the same theo- 
logical school with the notorious Dr. John Taylor, 
formerly of Norwich, England. Mr. Wesley, then, 
and Dr. Taylor, of New Haven, are Arminians. Dr. 
Taylor, of New Haven, and the late Dr. Taylor, of 
Norwich, are of one mind also. 

"While at Amherst," says Mr. Nettleton, "I read through 
Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich, and much of Edwards in reply. 
And I must say, that so far as I understand the subject, the 
sentiments of our New Haven brethren are more in accordance 
with the former than with the latter." 

Now things that are equal to the same thing are 
equal to each other. Ergo, Mr. Wesley and Dr. Tay- 
lor, of Norwich, (q. e. d.,) must have been of the 
same school, according to the " distinguished New 
England minister." But were they of the same school? 
So far from it, that Mr. Wesley's book on "Original 
Sin " is an attack (polemic) on Dr. Taylor's Pelagian- 
ism. In his preface, Mr. Wesley says, "The ques- 
tion between us is of the highest importance ; it is 
Christianity or heathenism. Either you or I mistake 
the whole of Christianity from beginning to end. 
Either my creed or yours is as contrary to the Script- 
ural as the Koran is." Again he says, " Necessity 
is laid upon me to provide those who desire to know 
the truth some antidote against this deadly poison. It 
may be doubted whether this Dr. Taylor's scheme be 
far more dangerous than open deism. It does not 
shock us like barefaced infidelity. We feel no pain 
while it steals like water into our bowels. One who 



3§2 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



would be upon his guard in reading the works of 
Dr. Middleton or Lord Bolingbroke is quite open 
and unguarded in reading the smooth, decent writ- 
ings of Dr. Taylor." Is it not strange that two men 
who agreed so amicably with Dr. Taylor, of Xciv 
Haven, should so utterly fall out with ojie another? 
what ! two English divines agree to kiss hands with 
the same transatlantic stranger, and yet at odds be- 
tween themselves ! It is evident that Mr. Wesley 
disrelished exceedingly the theological views of Dr. 
Taylor, of Norwich. So far as the New Haven di- 
vines advocate the peculiar views of Dr. Taylor, so 
far Mr. Wesley would say that he considers their 
system " more dangerous than deism itself But 
what doctrine does "Six. Wesley teach, in his work on 
" Original Sin V He divides the treatise into two 
parts. He says, "Before we attempt to account for 
any fact, we should be well assured of the fact itself." 
He proposes, therefore, to inquire, first, " What is the 
real state of mankind?" and second, "How that state 
may be accounted for?" He occupies some seventy 
pages in the first inquiry, and then declares : 

" Universal misery is at once a consequence and a proof of 
this universal corruption. Men are unhappy — how very few are 
the exceptions! — because they are unholy. Culpam poena pre- 
mit comes: ' Pain accompanies and follows sin. 1 Why is the 
earth so full of complicated distress ? Because it is full of com- 
plicated wickedness." 

He then proceeds to the second inquiry, "How is 

this universal wickedness to be accounted for ?" 

"Will you," says he. "resolve it into the prevalence of cus- 
tom, and say, ' Men are guided more by example than reason?' 
It is true they run after one another, like a flock of sheep, as 



ARMINIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 383 



Seneca remarked long ago, A 7 on qua emidum est, sed qua itur : 
' Not where they ought to go, but where others go.' But I gain 
no ground by this ; I am equally at a loss to account for this 
custom. 

" But to bring the matter to a short issue : the first parents 
who educated their children in vice and folly either were wise 
and virtuous themselves, or were not. If they were not, their 
vice did not proceed from education ; so the supposition falls to 
the ground; wickedness was antecedent to bad education. If 
they were wise and virtuous, it can not be supposed but they 
would teach their children to tread in the same steps. In no 
wise, therefore, can we account for the present state of man- 
kind from example of education." 

Denying this hypothesis as equally unphilosophical 
and unscriptural, he says: 

" Let us, then, have recourse to the oracles of God. How do 
they teach us to account for this fact — that ' all flesh corrupted 
their way before God ?' 

"They teach us, that in 'Adam all die,' 1 Cor. xv, 22, com- 
pared with Genesis ii and iii ; that 'by' the first 'man came' 
both natural and spiritual 'death;' that 'by' this 'one man, sin 
entered into the world, and death' in consequence of sin ; and 
that from him 'death passed upon all men, in that all have 
sinned.' Rom. v, 12." 

Much of this treatise consists in the rehearsal and 
the refutation of Dr. Taylor's arguments and objec- 
tions. His arguments are answered by Mr. Wesley 
in such a manner as the New England minister him- 
self might, should he read, have the grace to approve 
and admire. Finally Mr. Wesley declares, as it be- 
came a sound Arminian : 

" It remains, then, all that has been advanced to the contrary 
notwithstanding, that the only true and rational way of account- 
ing for the general wickedness of mankind, in all ages and na- 
tions, is pointed out in those words 'in Adam all die.' In and 
through their first parent, all his posterity died in a spiritual 
sense; and they remain wholly 'dead in trespasses and sins,' 



3^4 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



till the second Adam makes them alive. By this 'one man sin 
entered into the world, and passed upon all men ;' and through 
the infection which they derive from him, all men are and ever 
were, by nature, entirely ' alienated from the life of God ; with- 
out hope, without God in the world.' " 

Place this language by the side of Dr. Taylor's, in 
his " concio ad clerum" in which he teaches, "that all 
men came into the world with the same naticre in kind 
as that with which Adam was C7'eated, and which the 
child Jesus possessed" and then say, whether there is 
not ground for admiration that Taylor and Wesley 
should be bound in the same yoke, or, in other words, 
assigned to the same theological class. If any thing 
more is necessary to vindicate Arminianism, so far 
as it claims Mr. Wesley for its advocate, it is fur- 
nished by a fact which may surprise more than one 
New England divine. It is the fact that Mr. Wesley, 
in his " Original Sin," defends the "Assembly's Cat- 
echism" itself against Dr. John Taylor's furious as- 
saults. In vol. 5, page 539, Mr. Wesley says to the 
Doctor : 

" In your Second Part you profess to examine the principal 
passages of Scripture which divines have applied in support 
of the doctrine of original sin ; particularly those cited by the 
assembly of divines in their Larger Catechism,' pp. 87, 88. To 
this I never subscribed ; but I think it is in the main a very 
excellent composition, which I shall therefore cheerfully en- 
deavor to defend, so far as I conceive it is grounded on clear 
Scripture." 

He follows Taylor through the several propositions 
of the "Catechism," on the subject of moral deprav- 
ity, and in consecutive order vindicates those proposi- 
tions, and defends the orthodox exegesis of those 



ARMINIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 385 



texts which are referred to in the Catechism. For 

example, he says : 

" Their [that is, the assembly of divines] fourth proposition 
is, 'the sinfulness of that state into which man fell consists in 
the guilt of Adam's first sin ; the want of that righteousness 
wherein he was created; and the corruption of his nature, 
whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite 
to all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to evil, and 
that continually ; which is commonly called original sin, and 
from which do proceed all actual transgressions.' " 

But to show, finally, how nearly Dr. Taylor, of New 
Haven, and Dr. Taylor, of Norwich, agree, and at the 
same time how remote Mr. Wesley is from both of 
them, we introduce the following, page 562, stereo- 
type edition. We will, for convenience, present it in 
the form of a dialogue : 

Taylor. — "But nature can not be morally corrupted, but by 
the choice of a moral agent." 

Wesley. — " You may play upon words as long as you please, 
but still I hold this fast ; I, and you too, whether you will own it 
or not, am inclined, and was ever since I can remember, ante- 
cedently to any choice of my own, to pride, revenge, idolatry. 
If you will not call these moral corruptions, call them just what 
you will; but the fact I am as well assured of, as that I have 
any memory or understanding." 

Taylor. — "But if parents were wise and virtuous themselves, 
and then endeavored to bring up their children virtuously, there 
would be less wickedness in the world." 

Wesley. — "There would; but this does not reach the point; 
nor that 'undisciplined children contract bad habits.' I have 
known wise and virtuous parents who did earnestly labor to 
bring up their children virtuously, and disciplined them with 
all possible care- from the very first dawn of reason ; yet these 
very children showed bad tempers before it was possible they 
should 1 contract bad habits.' They daily evidenced the wrong 
state of all their faculties, both of their understanding, will and 
affections ; just contrary both to the examples and instructions 
of all that were round about them. Here, t'.ien, these wrong: 
33. v 



3 86 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



tempers were not owing to 'the fault of careless or ungodly par- 
ents nor could be rationally accounted for, but by supposing 
those children to have a natural propensity to evil." 

We will, to confirm these proofs of Mr. Wesley's 
opposition to Taylor's Pelagianism and the neology of 
New Haven, introduce some extracts from Southey's 
Life of Wesley. With all his hostility to the Meth- 
odists and their founder, " tinder God',' Mr. South ey 
affords testimony ad rem. He says of Mr. Wesley : 

" Upon points which have not been revealed, but are within 
the scope of reason, he formed opinions for himself, which were 
generally clear, consistent with the Christian system, and cred- 
itable, for the most part, both to his feelings and his judgment. 
But he laid no stress upon them, and never proposed them for 
more than they were worth. In the following connected view 
of his scheme, care lias been taken to preserve his own words 
as far as possible, for the sake of fidelity." 

Then follows Mr. Wesley's creed, from which we 
select this : 

"He [Adam] was more than the representative, or federal 
head, of the human race — the seed and souls of all mankind were 
contained in him, and, therefore, partook of the corruption of his 
nature. From that time, every man who is born into the world 
bears the image of the devil in pride and self-will — the image of 
the beast in sensual appetites and desires. All his posterity 
were, by his act and deed, entitled to error, guilt, sorrow, fear, 
pain, disease, and death, and these they have inherited for their 
portion. The cause has been revealed to us, and the effects are 
seen over the whole world, and felt in the heart of every indi- 
vidual." 

And again he says: 

" The fall of man is the very foundation of revealed religion. 
If this be taken away, the Christian system is subverted, nor 
will it deserve so honorable an appellation as that of a cunningly 
devised fable. It is a Scriptural doctrine — many plain texts di- 
rectly teach it. It is a rational doctrine, thoroughly consistent 



ARMINIANISM IN NEW ENGLAND. 



387 



with sound reason, though there may be some circumstances 
relating to it which human reason can not fathom. It is a prac- 
tical doctrine, having the closest connection with the life, power, 
and practice of religion. It leads man to the foundation of all 
Christian practice, the knowledge of himself, and thereby to 
the knowledge of God, and of Christ crucified. It is an experi- 
mental doctrine. The sincere Christian carries the proof of it 
in his own bosom." 

"Thus [says Dr. Sou they] Wesley reasoned; and, from the 
corruption of man's nature, or, in his own view of the doctrine, 
from the death of the soul, he inferred the necessity of a new 
birth." 

Our readers now have before them some ground 
on which to judge of the "competency" of that "dis- 
tinguished divine," whose letters are being published 
in the Southern Christian Herald, to define Armini- 
anism, and to trace "its rise and progress." We 
commend to his notice Mr. Wesley's remarks. Let 
him, before he "attempts to account for a fact, be well 
assured of the fact itself? Let him first ascertain 
that there is a solitary trait of Arminianism in the 
neology of the New Haven school, and then let him 
trace its rise and progress. As to New Haven errors, 
we care not how much they are exposed and opposed; 
but we do care to have their errors, which in former 
times have been attacked and rooted up by such Ar- 
minian writers as the venerable Wesley, charged upon 
a body of one million of professing Christians, who 
abhor them from their very souls. The false impu- 
tation will inevitably recoil upon its authors ; and, if 
they were not before, they will become "distin- 
guished" men. Should we undertake to show the 
origin and progress of Calvinism in the State of 
Ohio, and commence our first chapter with the his- 



3 88 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



tory of Mormonism, would not the world pronounce 
us either fools or deceivers ? We put it to our Cal- 
vinistic brethren ; and (as Junius says) they have the 
text, and can make the comment. 

VI. 

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

I. JEWISH OPINIONS. 

TV /T AN, of all creatures on earth, can look into 



•1VJ. futurity. But it is his noble prerogative not 
only to perceive the present advantage or disadvan- 
tage of his actions, but also to anticipate their influ- 
ence on his future happiness. This power of pros- 
pection belongs to all men — it is, as it were, inherent 
in the human nature. Many of the most barbarous 
among the heathen have a distinct apprehension that 
good will be the portion of the virtuous, and evil the 
lot of the vicious, beyond the grave. For the most 
part, all who have any idea of a Supreme Creator, ex- 
pect a future life and retribution. Indeed, the belief 
of a God, of his earthly providence, and of the perfect 
equity of that providence, necessarily, in the eye of 
unperverted reason, draws after it the doctrine of re- 
wards and punishments in a future life. For no man 
can live on earth without observing that piety is often 
forsaken to the most cruel persecutions, that vice is 
triumphant, and that the world is every-where groan- 




FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



389 



ing under the scourge of lawless ambition, and fero- 
cious tyranny. 

In such a world, does the God of infinite justice 
bear rule ? How, then, are his ways equal ? Where 
is the recompense of the just, and where the reward 
of transgressors ? We can find no answer to these 
questions but by admitting that the present is a life 
of probation, which excludes the idea of strict retri- 
bution, and that oppressed virtue is to look for its 
reward, and prosperous wickedness for its punish- 
ment, beyond the grave. Nearly all the pagan na- 
tions, both savage and civilized, have been forced, 
from the apparent inequalities of God's providence in 
this life, to admit a life to come, in which the ad- 
ministration of the Divine government. shall be strictly 
retributive, rendering " to every man according to his 
works." It is true, that their notions of this future 
state were superstitious, and frequently absurd. Yet 
these cardinal truths were almost always embraced in 
their creeds, namely, that the present state is evi- 
dently destitute of the marks of a strict retribution ; 
and that a future retribution is necessary to vindicate 
Providence. The pagan belief, therefore, was right in 
its foundation, however absurd and ridiculous in its 
details. 

When Christ commenced his ministry, he did, in 
his public instructions, regard the circumstances of 
the world. It was his object to destroy error, and 
build up truth. We find, therefore, that whatever 
was contrary to truth he assailed with argument and 
authority, pronouncing it false, and often condescend- 
ing to prove it so. The traditions of the Jewish 



390 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



teachers, and the heresies of the sects, were all con- 
demned, and his disciples were earnestly warned to 
beware of them. Now, if the doctrine of a future ret- 
ribution be false, inasmuch as it then prevailed all 
over the world, and was a grosser heresy than almost 
any other, why did not our Savior vindicate his re- 
ligion by plainly contradicting the error? It was not 
enough for him to be silent on a theme connected 
with heresy so gross and almost universal. He 
should have exposed and contradicted so cardinal an 
error, in the most unequivocal manner ; and his 
apostles, who wrote the epistles, should have been in- 
spired to declare, in plain terms, that the opinions of 
Jews and Gentiles on this subject were unfounded 
and false. Yet under these circumstances, our Savior 
and the apostles not only do not contradict the notion 
of a future retribution, but they even speak and write 
in language perfectly suited to confirm the popular 
belief. 

We propose to offer some testimony from various 
authors to prove that the popular opinion in the days 
of our Savior's incarnation was such as is here rep- 
resented — or, in other words, that the belief of a fu- 
ture retribution in another life was almost universal. 
We begin with, 

THE JEWS. 

Many have contended, and a multitude of other 
persons have allowed, that the doctrine of punish- 
ment after death is unknown to the Jewish econ- 
omy — that they never conceived the idea of any other 
punishment than such as of temporal losses and 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



39 1 



afflictions, imposed upon them by the wrathful provi- 
dence of God. 

To all this we reply : 

1. It is conceded that the words, and the descrip- 
tive language, in which the future state is set forth, 
are such as are borrowed from the common language 
of the people, and, therefore, have a primary signifi- 
cation which applies to temporary things. But this 
is no more than is true of all language whatsoever, 
either in the Holy Scriptures or elsewhere. Words 
were not primarily invented to express Divine ideas, 
but human. If, therefore, God would give us a rev- 
elation of divine truth at all, he must give it in the 
language we understand and use in common life, at- 
taching such new and elevated signification to words 
as the nature of the new ideas revealed calls for. 
The true ideas of a future state — of heaven and hell, 
of final judgment and accountability — could not be 
conveyed to Hebrews but in the Hebrew language, 
and that language furnishes no terms more definite, 
terse, and pertinent to set forth the doctrine of future 
rewards and punishments of everlasting duration than 
those employed in the Old Testament. 

2. The Jewish Scriptures are no more indefinite in 
regard to future punishments than they are of future 
rewards. Both are treated in the same familiar lan- 
guage of the common people — language which, in its 
literal and primary sense, applies to temporal and sen- 
sible things. The objection of our opponents, there- 
fore, if conceded, proves too much. It sweeps away 
at one swoop all ideas of future life in any conditions. 

3. The Old Testament does give ample proof of 



392 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



a future life, and of future rewards and punishments. 
Its language often rises to a height of description, 
and logical statement, and intensity of feeling, which 
is not excelled in the New Testament, and can not 
be explained but upon the hypothesis of future re- 
wards and punishments. Job, and David, and Solo- 
mon, and the major prophets speak with sufficient 
clearness on these points. But, without going into 
this investigation at large, which our argument does 
not call for, we need only to inquire, What were the 
sentiments of the Jews in the days of our Savior and 
his apostles ? They were then divided into four 
sects, namely, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and 
Herodians. 

The Sadducees were infidels. They believed nei- 
ther in the resurrection, nor in angels, nor in spirits. 
Tzadoc, the disciple of Antigonus, seems to have 
perverted a very innocent sentiment of his teacher 
into that doctrine of devils which teaches, " Thou 
shalt not surely die." Josephus, in his Antiquities, 
testifies, this sect holds that the soul dies with the 
body. He states, however, that this doctrine was re- 
ceived but by a few, and that these, when they be- 
came magistrates, conformed to the notions of the 
Pharisees. We know, then, from his testimony, that 
the great body of the people, and all the magistracy, 
held other opinions. 

The Pharisees are said to have received their name 
from the Hebrew peroshim, the separated, from the 
l'oot parash, to cleave, divide, separate, distingiiisli, be- 
cause they affected great sanctity. They believed in 
a retribution after death, in opposition to the free- 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



393 



thinkers, or the Sadducees. They believed that souls 
have an immortal vigor, and that under the earth, or 
in Hades, there will be rewards and punishments for 
the virtuous and the vicious ; and that the latter will 
be detained in an everlasting prison. 

Again : Josephus says, they (the Pharisees) believe 
that the souls of good men are removed to other 
bodies, and that the souls of bad men are subject to 
eternal punishment. 

The Essenes lived retired, and both they and the 
Herodians were too insignificant to merit notice, but 
the former firmly held that rewards and punishments 
beyond the grave were eternal. The truth, then, con- 
cerning the great body of the Jews is, that they 
firmly held the doctrine of future retribution. Among 
the ancient witnesses to the truth of this clearly re- 
vealed doctrine, none have testified more unequivo- 
cally than Josephus ; and few, except the inspired 
penmen, were more competent to testify. 

He says that "the just and the unjust shall be 
brought before God the Word ; and that he whom 
we call Christ shall come as judge. For Minos and 
Rhadamanthus are not the judges, as you (Greeks) 
suppose, but he whom God the Father hath glorified. 
. . . This person, exercising the righteous judg- 
ment of the Father toward all men, hath prepared a 
just sentence for every one according to his works, at 
whose judgment seat, when all men, and angels, and 
demons shall stand, they will send forth one voice, 
and say, Just is thy judgment. The rejoinder will 
bring a just judgment upon both parties, by giving 
justly to those who have done well an everlasting 



394 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



fruition, but allotting to the lovers of wicked works 
eternal punishment. "To these belong the fire un- 
quenchable, without end, and a certain fiery worm, 
never dying, and not destroying the body, but contin- 
uing its eruption out of the body with never-ceasing 
grief ; neither will sleep give ease to these men, nor 
will the night afford them comfort ; death will not free 
them from punishment, nor will the interceding 
prayers of their kindred profit them." (Discourse to 
the Greeks concerning Hades.) Probably Josephus 
agreed with the Jews, or with the Christians, or with 
both. If with the Jews, they believed the doctrine of 
future eternal punishment ; if he agreed with Chris- 
tians, they believed it. But with whomsoever he har- 
monized or differed, one thing is certain, namely, the 
doctrine was advocated in his day, and advocated, too, 
by those who had the Scriptures, in opposition to the 
pagans and their fictions. 

Many contend that the Jews borrowed their ideas 
on this subject from the Greeks, but Josephus says 
that the Greeks seem to him to have gained their no- 
tions of the delicious abodes of their heroes, and of 
the tortures of the wicked in hell, that is, their Elys- 
ium and Tartarus, from the Essenes. 

Calmet says, that the Jews place hell in the center 
of the earth, and call it the deep, or destruction. In 
this the heathen agree with them. The Hebrews are 
said by Calmet to hold to seven degrees of suffering 
in hell, as they find it designated by seven different 
names. Some, they think, after suffering purgation, 
will escape — that none of the Jews, except heretics, 
will perish eternally, but that mercy will be slow to- 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



395 



ward the Gentiles, and that infidels will be eternally 
lost. Cold, heat, and despair are the three torments 
of hell, according to the Rabbins. Remorse and de- 
spair they represent as disorders of the soul. Esdras 
iv, places the souls of the condemned between fire 
and water, each an equal torment. Now, as to the 
object which we seek, it matters not how obscure, er- 
roneous, or absurd the ideas of the Jews were on the 
subject of future punishment, nor from what sources 
they were derived. The only question of any weight 
in regard to our argument is, whether the Jews, or 
any considerable number of them, cherished the be- 
lief of a future state, as a state of retribution, in any 
form whatever. And we have the best kind of evi- 
dence that the nature of the case admits, that a very 
large portion of the people, embracing the Pharisees 
and Essenes, firmly maintained the doctrine of a future 
retribution. 

Another thing must be remembered. Future end- 
less punishment was advocated as a true doctrine, in 
the very terms which Christ and his apostles used in 
speaking of the punishment of the wicked. If the 
Divine Teacher and his commissioned apostles adopted 
phrases which were understood by the people to de- 
note eternal, or endless, punishment — and this they 
did — what was it but deceiving the people, unless the 
doctrine of endless punishment be true ? It is mar- 
velous, supposing- the doctrine not true, that our 
Savior never qualified these terms, which it requires 
ninety-nine out of one hundred discourses nowadays 
to explain and argue into an improper signification. 
Should you hear a man preach five years, every Sab- 



396 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



bath, on the effects of sin, using the very language of 
Scripture, and never explaining that language, would 
you suspect him to be a Universalist ? Such a 
thought would never enter your mind. Nay, were 
you to listen on some occasion to one sermon from a 
stranger, of whom you were perfectly ignorant, if 
there were intermixed in it such expressions as, 
" There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked ;" 
" Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish ;" " Ex- 
cept a man be born again, he can not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ;" "He that believeth not shall be 
damned;" "All that are in the graves shall hear his 
voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good 
unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil 
unto the resurrection of damnation," would you be in 
any danger of suspecting that this stranger was a 
Universalist ? No. If he did not travel out of the 
Scripture record, and preach something besides that 
Gospel which Jesus commands his ministers to preach, 
you would believe, if seated in a Universalist chapel, 
that some repenting errorist had stolen a march on 
the congregation, and was recanting his heresy in the 
ears of the astonished multitude. 

II. Opinions of Greeks and Romans. 

We have noticed the opinions which prevailed 
among the Jews, in the times of our Savior, on this 
subject. We will now proceed to institute a sim- 
ilar inquiry concerning the Gentiles. We would ob- 
serve, however, in regard to both, that the equivo- 
cal signification of certain words in their languages 
has less to do with this question than many suppose. 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



397 



We have had tedious dialogues, oral and written, in 
regard to the signification of Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, 
and Tartarus ; as though if Sheol primarily and prop- 
erly means a deep pit, the grave, the lower world, the 
region of ghosts, it infers something unfavorable to or- 
thodoxy. That it does not, even by the slightest 
presumption, will be seen from the fact, that Univer- 
salists, or some of them at least, acknowledge the fu- 
ture to be a state of unceasing happiness ; and they 
admit that this state is known in the sacred Script- 
ures by the name of heaven. They do not object 
that this use of the word heaven is diverting it from 
its original signification. Yet this is clearly the fact. 
The Hebrew word Shamayim is used, I. To denote 
the air, and the clouds, and moisture in the region 
of the atmosphere, which is borne on its wings, or 
descends in dew and rain. 2. It denotes the celestial 
bodies and their sphere ; or the planetary and stellar 
worlds with the broad expanse in which they are re- 
vealed. 

Then, at last, it is appropriated, improperly, to de- 
note the dwelling-place of God ; or rather the region 
where angels and sanctified spirits dwell, and God om- 
nipresent displays his ineffable glory. Now the orig- 
inal signification of Shamayim is, Genesis i, i, the 
inferior heavens ; or the air, clouds, etc. Why then 
not limit it to that one object ? Because we find its 
use varied and extended in subsequent Scriptures, 
and often to denote the future state of the blessed, 
and the dwelling-place of Jehovah. Why now should 
we deal unequally with those words, or classes of 
words, both of which primarily denoting other ob- 



393 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



jects, have come, in time, to be applied to the states 
of the righteous and the wicked beyond the grave? 
If we consent that Shamayim, applied properly to the 
region of the atmosphere, may be applied improperly 
to the future beatitudes of the saints, why should 
we quarrel with the Holy Spirit because it dictates 
the use of Sheol to denote, first, and properly, the 
grave or subterranean regions ; 2. The abode of sep- 
arate spirits ; 3. The regions of the condemned, or 
the state where the terrors of the second death light 
forever upon the unbelieving. 

We allude to this incidentally, not of necessity, be- 
cause we have heretofore laid no stress on the force 
of the word Sheol. In our former number we 
showed, historically, that the Pharisees and Essenes 
believed not merely in Sheol, or in Gehenna, but in 
a state of future rewards and punishments ; and that 
these two sects embraced the great mass of the Jew- 
ish population. It matters not, therefore, to con- 
tend what may be one particular meaning of the 
word Sheol. 

Historically it can be proved also that the Gentiles, 
namely, the Greeks and Romans, expected a. future 
retribution. This they not merely hint, but they de- 
scribed the regions of pain and despair, and repre- 
sent the unworthy as delivered over to eternal tort- 
ures. Nor are we permitted to suppose that because 
this was done poetically, it presumes nothing in re- 
gard to the sentiments of the grave and sober among 
them. Their poetry is a fair index to what was the 
state of public sentiment, especially on the subject 
of religion. Did not Paul, preaching God's truth to 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT, 



399 



the Athenians, appeal to what certain of their own 
poets had said, as conclusive evidence of the doctrines 
which they held ? Nor did they dispute the author- 
ity, or deny that they held the doctrine in question. 
The ancients would have done as moderns would do, 
namely, if Universalists could now have their way, 
every figure, word, and phrase, in prose and poetry, 
calculated to keep alive the false (they say) impres- 
sion or idea of future punishment, would be blotted 
from the literature of the world, and expunged from 
the languages of mankind. 

1. The first token, in order, of their belief in a fu- 
ture retribution, is found in the diameter of theit 
gods. Their deities were celestial, terrestrial, and in- 
fernal. These denominations were significant of dif- 
ferent spheres of habitation, agency, and dominion. 
We need only notice the infernal. Pluto was the sov- 
ereign of hell, or reigned over the regions beneath. 
He was called Ades and Orcus, to designate his of- 
fflce and abode. Proserpine, stolen by the treacherous 
god from Sicily, was his spouse, and queen of hell. 
He was fabled to occupy a throne of sulphur with Cer- 
berus at his feet, the Harpies surrounding him, and 
Proserpine at his left hand. His aspect was ferocious, 
and his worshipers erected no temple to his honor. 

2. The functions of the infernal deities were wrath- 
ful. The Furies were Pluto's ministers, and their 
office was to inflict vengeance on the guilty, both on 
earth and in hell. These ministers of infernal wrath 
were fabled to be of a frightful, ferocious countenance, 
with dark, bloody garments, and their heads wreathed 
with hissing serpents. 



400 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



3. The celestial and infernal gods inhabited oppo- 
site spheres* This was so impressed upon the pagan 
worshiper, that in sacrificing to the former, the neck 
of the victim was turned upward, but when to the lat- 
ter the neck was turned downward, that the oblation 
might, in that, flow upward; in this, downward toward 
the infernal abodes. 

These three facts are of greater moment than 
some might suppose, in determining what were the 
sentiments of the Greeks and Romans concerning a 
future state. Their importance may be perceived, by 
just considering, that at this death all who deny a 
state of future punishment, also deny, with equal stub- 
bornness, that there are any infernal or fallen angels, 
whose functions are wrathful, or who execute a min- 
istry of retributive vengeance upon the departed souls 
of the guilty. They deny with equal caution that 
there is a world or sphere of darkness and terror, an- 
swering in any degree to the abodes of infernal gods. 
All who accredit the testimony of the Scripture con- 
cerning the fall of angels, and the malice and ministry 
of the fallen, admit that there is a future retribution. 

But the ancients held, furthermore, that a judge of 
human actions dwelt in these infernal regions. Rhad- 
amanthus, a son of Jupiter, was ordained to this high 
office, and sat in judgment upon the souls of the dead. 
So teach Ovid, Plato, Homer, and Virgil. 

To crown the evidence, we have the names of many 
of the judged and condemned. Sisyphus is one fa- 
mous instance. After his death he was condemned 
in hell to roll a huge stone up a steep ascent, which 
essaying to do, it returned by an impetuous rush to 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



401 



the plain, so that he was doomed to toil eternally, in 
vain and in despair. 

But, lastly, we have in the pagan literature the 
very crimes specified, for which the infernal deities 
inflicted these severe retributions. Homer speaks 
thus of the fate of the perjured : 

"And ye fell Furies of the realms of night, 
Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepare, 
For perjured kings, and all who falsely swear." 

And, again, he represents the gods as thus invoked : 

" Witness, ye infernal powers, 
Who souls below torment for breach of oaths." 

As to the state of public sentiment among them at 
the time of our Savior's advent, there is no doubt 
but infidelity prevailed to a very great extent. The 
higher classes were freethinkers on the subject of re- 
ligion. For a few centuries before Christ, the heathen 
religion was continually sinking into decay. Men be- 
gan to ridicule, as some now do, the very idea of a 
future retribution. But it was not that retribution 
alone which they ridiculed. This was but one article 
of religious faith, and with it, infidelity rejected and 
spurned almost every thing that belonged to the re- 
ligion of heathenism. It follows, therefore, that so 
far as the religion of the heathen obtained any in- 
fluence or any credence among them, the doctrine of 
a future retribution was also received ; as very few 
separated this particular tenet from the general sys- 
tem, but either accepted all, or spurned the whole as 
a fond superstition of weak and ignorant minds. 

How, then, should the teachers of a true religion, 
resolved to build up truth and annihilate error, have 

34 



402 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



treated this decaying system ? Was it meet for them 
to dwell on certain comparatively unimportant doc- 
trines and usages of heathenism, and oppose and con- 
demn them, and yet leave the cardinal popular error, 
that is, a state of future retribution, uncontradicted, 
and even confirmed, by the use of those very phrases 
concerning the sanctions of truth, which the heathen 
had employed to describe a future retribution ? 

We have seen that these following things were 
prominent in the heathen mythology, namely : I. A 
division or classification of their gods, embracing in- 
fernal deities. 2. The wrathful office of these infernal 
deities. 3. The fabled punishment of some departed 
souls, as Sisyphus, for example. 4. Judicial functions 
in the fabled Rhadamanthus, by whose supposed in- 
quisition and decree, innocence and Elysium, or guilt 
and Erebus were conjoined. These things should be 
well understood, and carried by the student of the 
Bible along with him to the investigation of the 
question. Do Christ and his apostles teach the doc- 
trine of future rewards and punishments? 

III. Teaching of Christ and his Apostles. 

The views which prevailed in our Savior's time hav- 
ing been briefly stated, let us now consider the teach- 
ings of Christ and his apostles. We should expect 
these two things: That they would inculcate the pre- 
cepts of God's law in the plainest manner ; and 2. That 
they would especially guard all men against a miscon- 
ception of the penalty of that law. 

This was of the utmost importance toward rendering 
the divine government equitable and beneficent in its 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



403 



operations upon the interests of mankind. No objects 
are more carefully sought in human legislation than a 
clear and unequivocal exhibition of the injunctions, 
prohibitions, and sanctions of law. 

The first object is attained in the Scriptures. The 
precepts of the law are so clearly exhibited that "a 
wayfaring man though a fool need not err therein." 
How is this certainty attained ? In several instances 
the precepts of the law had been corrupted, and even 
practically abrogated, by the glosses and traditions 
of the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees. These 
traditions were exposed as licentious and profane, 
their authors were rebuked in severe terms, and the 
people were warned to beware of their "leaven." 
Witness the sermon on the Mount. The apostles 
also, after our Savior's ascension, guarded the disci- 
ples, by the epistles, against the errors which grad- 
ually crept in among them. 

For example, when some taught that the "resur- 
rection was past already," how promptly did the apos- 
tolic pen arrest and sentence the pernicious heresy ! 
Another thing should not be overlooked. When the 
disciples were in doubt on any subject embraced in 
Christ's instructions, they questioned him, and he 
condescended to a familiar explanation, which solved 
the difficulty, and relieved them of all perplexity. 
So it was with the parable of the tares of the field. 
By these methods, the Gospel precepts were rendered 
plain," and we seldom hear, to this very day, much 
debate or dispute concerning them. 

In regard to the penalty of the law, nothing within 
the sphere of Christ's ministry was of greater moment 



404 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



than to make it understood. How careful are human 
legislatures to indicate unequivocally the penalty of 
transgression — its mode, degree, and period ! No deed 
could exceed in cruelty that of concealing from the 
subject of government the penalty of disobedience, 
or of setting forth that penalty in terms liable to un- 
intentional misapprehension. 

Keeping this always in mind, and recalling, also, 
the closing paragraph of the last section, wherein the 
sentiments of the heathen were recapitulated, we 
proceed. 

Now, if you ask what the fancies of pagans have 
to do with the teachings of Christ, we answer, every 
thing. If in the clays of Christ a future retribution 
was the prevailing belief, he was placed in the same 
circumstances that our modern Universalists are ; 
and, if that belief was erroneous, we can perceive, in 
the war which Universalism wages against the doc- 
trine, what would have been the conduct of the heav- 
enly teacher. 

Suppose there were not a person now on earth be- 
lieving the doctrine of future retribution — what would 
Universalist preachers do in such a case? Would 
they preach as they now do against " partialists ?" 
Certainly not. Their quarrel with God's Church is 
on this very account, because she holds so tena- 
ciously the doctrine of future retribution. But the 
contemporaries of Christ and his apostles were all 
"partialists ;" and why did not the Heavenly Teacher 
reform them, by denying as pointedly and unequivo- 
cally as our Universalists now do, that there are in- 
fernal spirits, and infernal regions, and punishments 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



405 



for the dead, and a judge to sentence them? Will 
you say that he does contradict these things ? Turn 
to the Word, and to the testimony, and see. 

Consult Matthew xii, and Mark iii. Here the Phar- 
isees declare that, by the power of Satan, not by the 
power o.f God, Jesus casts out devils. What an ex- 
cellent opportunity was this for our Savior to unde- 
ceive mankind, and deny that there existed such a 
being as the devil! In similar circumstances, how 
promptly would a modern Universalist reply, "Are 
you so superstitious as to believe that there is such a 
being as Satan ?" But Jesus gives not a solitary hint 
that the popular opinion is erroneous. On the con- 
trary, his reply admits and assumes the existence of 
evil spirits. 

Look again at Matthew xiii, where Jesus explains 
his own parable: "The tares are the children of the 
wicked one, and the enemy that sowed them is the 
devil." What impression was this likely to make on 
the mind of the Jew who cherished a firm belief in 
the existence of evil spirits ? Would it tend to re- 
form him. But, not to dwell, turn to any text in the 
Gospels, where Satan is named by our Savior, and 
see if you can find a solitary hint disapproving or 
contradicting the popular opinion. The fact is that 
our Lord just as unequivocally sanctioned the doc- 
trine of the existence of evil spirits as he did the 
doctrine that there is a God. What do the apostles 
teach on this subject? The most of their epistles 
were directed to Churches composed of converted 
pagans, who believed, as we have said, in infernal 
deities. Consult Ephesians ii and xi, but especially 



406 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



2 Peter ii, 4. These are the representations by which, 
according to Universalists, the Jews and the Gentiles 
were to be converted from the belief — a faith which 
was as old as their history — that there are invisible 
spirits, whose functions are malicious and wrathful, 
and who exercise those functions to the detriment, 
and often to the ruin, of mankind. 

Again : if the Scriptures sanction instead of con- 
tradicting the sentiment, that there are infernal be- 
ings of such a character, they certainly represent them 
as inhabiting regions of darkness, and as awaiting a 
judgment to come. 

In proof of this, turn again to 2 Peter ii, 4. Rec- 
ollect that Peter's epistles are catholic — that is, they 
are addressed neither to Jews nor Gentiles exclu- 
sively, but "to all who have obtained like precious 
faith." Pagan converts, then, were instructed by his 
letters — and what does he say to them? "For if 
God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them 
down to hell, and delivered them into chains of dark- 
ness, to be reserved unto judgment," etc. Is this 
poetry ? Do St. Peter and Homer join in concert to 
muse and publish to the world a song of superstitious 
fictions ? Are the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Metamor- 
phoses, and the New Testament, all alike, poetry, and 
fiction, and fable? So the Universalists must expect 
us to believe. But let us look at this text more mi- 
nutely, and we shall find the greater occasion to ad- 
mire the phrenological infirmities of the man who can 
interpret it in harmony with Universalism. "If God 
spared not the angels that sinned." Who are these 
angels? What is signified by their sinning? The 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



407 



next member of the text would settle these questions 
in the minds of pagans, for in it is found a word per- 
fectly familiar to them, and of a fixed signification 
in their religious creed. " But cast them down to 

hell," alia aetpdtq ^6<poo Taprapdxraq — alia seirais ZOpJlOU 
tartarosas — translated by Macknight, "But with chains 
of darkness confining them in Tartarus" using the 
participle of a verb taken from Tartaros, the prison 
of gloom where the objects of Jupiter's vengeance 
were confined and tormented ; where Ixion, and Tan- 
talus, and the Titans, doomed like Satan for their re- 
bellion, endured agony unceasing. Tartarus, in the 
Greek mythology, was not only an abode of darkness 
in the invisible world, but it was the lower part of 
the abyss of Hades, where the shades of the wicked 
were imprisoned and tormented. If there were no 
fallen spirits in the universe, no place of their con- 
finement and punishment, no reservation of them to 
a future judgment, how could Peter, writing to the 
nations who had described similar objects in phrase- 
ology appropriated to these representations, use their 
.own Greek phrases in this bewildering manner ? 
Homer had described Tartarus as a fearful deep of 
darkness and horrors, with iron gates and a brazen 
entrance ; and Hesiod had represented it as far be- 
neath the earth, and the Titans bound with chains 
in its thick darkness, and every ancient heathen asso- 
ciated with it the same images of terror, of the wrath 
of the gods poured out upon the guilty ; and here an 
apostle, in the phraseology of their own writers, sets 
forth the transgression, the fall, the duress, and the 
coming judgment of rebellious angels. 



408 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



Universalists may say that Tartarus was only an 
imaginary place of torment among the heathen. 
What then? Would the Divine Teacher and his 
apostles be less prompt on that account to contradict 
it ? How is it with Universalist preachers now ? 
They say that hell, as used by the Church, or as syn- 
onymous with Tartarus, is a fiction. But do they cease 
to inveigh, therefore, against the creed which con- 
fesses it to be real ? No. They plead against the 
"fable" with as much vehemence as though to believe 
it would peril the soul. If they make such efforts 
to disprove a mere fiction, why did not Jesus do the 
same? Was not the belief of this " fiction" as inju- 
rious then as it is now ? Was Jesus less merciful or 
less careful of the truth than they who now war so 
bravely against the innocent "fancies of the vulgar?" 
Were the apostles destitute of benevolence, that they 
suffered this fiction of pagan minds to remain, and 
even fortified it, till the giant intellects of the eight- 
eenth and nineteeth centuries should cast down the 
imagination which has so long exalted itself against 
the knowledge of God? They object that Tartarus 
was an imaginary place. Was not the Theos of the 
Greeks an imaginary god, and their Elysium, or On- 
ranos, an imaginary heaven? So, then, by the Uni- 
versalists' rule of exegesis, when the apostle says, 
"For there is one God," he means an imaginary god; 
and when he speaks of heaven, it is an imaginary 
heaven! Who will admit it? Not themselves. It is 
only when the apostles adopt the phraseology of the 
Jews and Gentiles concerning the existence, the 
malignity, the infernal abodes, and the judgment in 



ME THODISM—PR O VIDENCE. 



409 



reserve for fallen angels, that their language signifies 
nothing ; or, at least, no more than do the smooth 
numbers of Dryden, who seizes the Greek or Latin 
song, translates the fiction, restores to it the imagery 
and polish of poetry, and leaves it a fiction still. 

VII. 

METHODISM— PROVIDENCE. 
I. 

T T OW often do we hear men of Calvinistic sen- 



A J- timents exclaim, on hearing our doctrines 
preached in a plain and lucid manner, "That is pure 
Calvinism, and you Methodists are giving up your 
old errors and coming over!" Such language would 
be more tolerable if it proceeded from others than 
the professedly learned — the "competent." But it re- 
quires some Christian patience to hear it reiterated 
by men professing a knowledge of all things. We 
have been amused, perhaps a hundred times, to hear 
such remarks concerning the Methodist doctrine of 
providence. The views of the Church, so far as we 
know, have been uniform on this point from the be- 
ginning. From the days of Wesley our founder, the 
fathers, and the standard writers among us, have all 
inculcated the doctrine of a special, ox particular prov- 
idence. Hear Mr. Wesley. In Vol. v, page 113, he 
says : 

" You allow, then, only a general providence. I do not under- 
stand the term. Be so kind as to let me know what you mean by 




35 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



'a general providence, contradistinguished from a particular one.' 
I doubt you are at a loss for an answer, unless you mean some 
huge, unwieldy thing — I suppose, resembling the pHmum mob- 
ile (the. prime mover) in the Ptolemaic system — which continu- 
ally whirls the whole universe round, without affecting one thing 
more than another. I doubt this hypothesis will demand more 
proof than you are at present able to produce ; besides that it 
is attended with a thousand difficulties, such as you can not 
readily solve. It may be, therefore, our wisest way for once to 
think with the vulgar, to acquiesce in the plain Scriptural ac- 
count. This informs us, that although God dwelleth in heaven, 
yet he still 'ruleth over all;' that his providence extends to 
every individual in the whole system of beings which he hath 
made ; that all natural causes of every kind depend wholly upon 
his will; and he increases, lessens, suspends, or destroys their 
efficacy, according to his own good pleasure." 

Here a particular providence is affirmed by Mr. 
Wesley; and what he means by a particular provi- 
dence will be easily gathered from other parts of his 
works. On page 242, Vol. vi, he asks "why we 
should not be convinced that it is not chance that 
governs the world ? The Scriptures assert, in the 
strongest terms, that all things (in nature) serve him ; 
that (by or without a train of natural causes) He send- 
eth his rain on the earth ; that He bringeth his winds 
out of his treasures, and maketh a way for the lightning 
and the thunder; in general, that fire and hail, snow 
and vapor, wind and storm, fulfill his word. There- 
fore, allowing that there are natural causes of all 
these, they are still under the direction of the Lord of 
Nature ; nay, what is Nature itself, but the art of God, 
or God's method of acting in the material world?" 

Here the question, What is a particular providence ? 
is, according to Mr. Wesley's understanding of it, 
clearly defined. In Vol. vi, page 349, he makes the 



ME THODISM—PR O VIDENCE. 



4 II 



denial of this doctrine a branch of ungodliness, and 
charges it upon his countrymen in remarkably bold 
and forcible terms. 

"11. But, if sloth and luxury are not, what is the present 
characteristic of the English nation ? 

" It is ungodliness. This is at present the characteristic of 
the English nation. Ungodliness is our universal, our constant, 
our peculiar character. 

" I do not mean deism ; the not assenting to revealed re- 
ligion. No ; a deist is a respectable character, compared to an 
ungodly man. But, by ungodliness, I mean, first, a total igno- 
rance of God ; secondly, a total contempt of him. 

" 12. And, first, a total ignorance of God is almost universal 
among us. The exceptions are exceeding few, whether among 
the learned or unlearned. High and low, cobblers, tinkers, 
hackney-coachmen, men and maid servants, soldiers, sailors, 
tradesmen of all ranks, lawyers, physicians, gentlemen, lords, 
are as ignorant of the Creator of the world as Mohammedans 
or pagans. They look up to that 'brave, o'er-hanging firmament, 
fretted with golden fires ;' they see the moon walking in bright- 
ness, the sun on his meridian throne ; they look round on the 
various furniture of the earth — herbs, flowers, trees, in all their 
beauty — and coolly ascribe all to Nature, without having any 
idea affixed to the word. Should you seriously ask them, What 
is Nature ? they know not how to answer. Perhaps they will 
say, 'Why, it is the course of things that always was, and always 
will be.' Always was! Then you assert that the present 
course of things was from eternity. If so, the world is eternal; 
either, then, there are two eternals, or there is no God ! 

"13. So much the good people of England in general know 
of God their Creator ! And high and low, from the meanest 
peasant to the gayest butterfly at court, know just as much of 
God their Governor. They know not, they do not in the least 
suspect, that he governs the world he has made; that he is the 
supreme and absolute Disposer of all things, both in heaven 
and earth. A poor heathen — though a consul, a prime minis- 
ter — knew Deorum providentia cuncta geri ; ' that the provi- 
dence of God directs all things.' Providence ! What is that? 
Do you know any thing about it ? ' Yes, I do ; I never denied a 
general providence.' A general providence / What do you 



412 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



mean ? What is a general that includes no particulars ? What 
is a whole that does not contain any parts ? It is a self-contra- 
diction, it is arrant nonsense. Either, therefore, allow a par- 
ticular providence, or do not pretend to believe any providence 
at all. If you do not believe that the Governor of the world 
governs all things in it, small and great; that fire and hail, snow 
and vapor, wind and storm, fulfill his word ; that he rules king- 
doms and cities, fleets and armies, and all the individuals 
whereof they are composed— and yet without forcing the wills 
of men, or necessitating any of their actions— do not affect to 
believe that he governs any thing, or has any thing to do in the 
world. No ; be consistent with yourself. Say that, as Nature 
produced, so chance governs all things." 

On page 701, of Vol. vi, he says : "The doctrine of 
a particular providence is what exceeding few persons 
understand ; at least not practically , so as to apply it to 
every circumstance in life. This I want, to see God 
acting in every thing, and disposing of all for his own 
glory and his creatures' good." 

How true it is now, that exceedingly few persons 
do understand the doctrine of a particular providence, 
at least practically ! That word — practically — is, in 
this instance, full of meaning. It is no uncommon 
thing to hear men affirm a particular providence in 
general terms, and then deny the doctrine in its ap- 
plication to rising events. They say, generally,, that 
hail and fire, winds and floods, are God's ministers, 
fulfilling his word ; yet the moment they hear a pious 
man ascribe his own prosperity or adversity to God's 
immediate agency in the control of these elements, 
so as to procure his weal or his woe, " they are done!' 

So it was with B. We rode with him to camp- 
meeting. We wished to reach the ground by three 
o'clock, P. M. Our harness broke, and we did not 



ME THODISM—PR VIDENCE. 



413 



arrive until four. We urged that Providence delayed 
us one hour on the way. "No," said he, with vehe- 
ment earnestness, "that is pure Calvinism — God has 
nothing to do with such little things." 

He was in his clerical novitiate. Soon after he 
reached the ground, he was invited to preach. He 
did so — and, in his introductory prayer, he thanked 
the Lord six several times that "thy good providence 
has brought us together this evening to worship thee 
in this woody grove." We thought of Wesley's re- 
mark, that the doctrine of a particular providence is 
what exceeding few persons understand, at least 
practically; but we rejoiced to find that this young 
preacher, in the heat of his devotions, lost sight of 
his philosophy, and confessed in prayer what he denied 
in argument. But let us return to Mr. Wesley. In 
Vol. vi, again, page 784, he says : 

" We can not impute too much to Divine providence, unless 
we make it interfere with free agency. I suppose that young 
woman, by saying she did not believe that God had any thing to 
do with it, only meant that the passion itself was not at all from 
God, but altogether from evil nature ; she could not mean that 
God does not, in a thousand instances, draw good out of evil ; 
yea, that he may not sometimes permit us to be overtaken in a 
fault, to prese? r ve us from a greater." 

Will those of our Calvinistic brethren, who accuse 
us of change, of "coming over," and of becoming 
"more enlightened," consult this paragraph? Surely 
they are becoming enlightened on the subject of 
Methodism and its doctrines, and much they need. 
When have they heard or seen from the lips or pens 
of Methodist preachers, any sentiment bordering so 
closely on Calvinism as this? Probably there are 



4H 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



scarcely ten Methodist divines at this day in all 
America who would adopt that language, without 
qualification, as their own. And yet it is not Calvin- 
ism. Between it and Calvinism proper, in its doc- 
trine of Divine efficiency, there is a gulf as broad as 
that which separates Dives and Lazarus. Calvinism 
insists that God hath fore-ordained some men and an- 
gels to dishonor and wrath, out of his mere good pleas- 
ure, and to the praise of the glory of his justice — and 
that by his providence he governs all these repro- 
bate creatures, and all their actions — and that he suf- 
fered them to fall into sin and damnation ; limiting 
and ordering (their fall, and) all their sins, to his 
own glory. See questions 12th, 13th, and 19th, and 
answers, of the " Larger Catechism." 

Let us illustrate Mr. Wesley's proposition by ex- 
ample : On a certain day A. B. is tempted to com- 
mit a flagitious crime. The principal check is not 
from conscience, which is seared, but from pride, 
which dreads detection. and disgrace. Now pride is 
a sin ; but on this occasion, according to Mr. Wes- 
ley's supposition, all the restraints upon his pride 
may be removed by Providence, that its utmost 
power may check the sinner, and withhold him from 
the commission of a flagitious crime. 

In this instance the motive of Providence is as- 
sumed to be the ultimate good — the salvation of man. 
It differs from Calvinism then in this, that in the 
former case the sinner is said to be permitted to fall 
into a smaller fault, to avoid a greater, in the latter he 
is decreed to fall into a smaller fault, as a step to the 
greater. 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDEXCE. 



415 



Although, then, we could not subscribe to Mr. 
Wesley's proposition, and think it should be received 
with some grains of allowance ; yet it is far enough 
from being the Calvinistic view of the doctrine of 
Divine efficiency. An honest Calvinist, who under- 
stands the " Confession of Faith," would deem Mr. 
Wesley's remark downright heresy. 

We think it is made evident enough that Mr. 
Wesley believed and taught the doctrine of a par- 
ticular providence. Whoever will consult his writ- 
ings, will find that he labored, in an a°;e and in a 
Church which had nearly exploded the doctrine from 
creed and memory, to rescue it, and thus restore the 
presence of a God almost exiled from the world, to the 
hearts of men. 

II. 

We have presented Mr. Wesley's views ; and so, 
we trust, have convinced impartial readers that mod- 
ern is the same as ancient Methodism, so far as the 
doctrine of a particular providence is concerned ; or 
at least that the Methodists, so far from being more, 
are, if any thing, less Calvinistic than their founder 
was. If there has been any change, it is such as 
Calvinism would pronounce sinister. Let us now 
turn to Fletcher, of blessed memory, and ascertain 
his views. Vol. ii, page 229, Mr. Fletcher says : 

" Mr. Toplady goes on: 'The exempting of some things and 
events from the providence of God, by referring them to free- 
will, etc., is another of those black lanes, which lead, in a direct 
line, from Arminianism to Atheism.' This is a mistake all over. 
By the doctrine of moderate free-will we exempt 710 event or 
thing from the providence of God ; for we maintain, that as 



416 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



God's power made free-will, so his providence rules or overrules 
it in all things. Only we do not believe that ruling or overrid- 
ing implies 4 necessitating, overpowering,' or 'tricking,' when 
judgments, punishments, and rewards are to follow." 

" By the doctrine of free-will we exempt no event 
or thing from the providence of God." Then does 
Mr. Fletcher maintain that every event, great and 
small, is intimately blended with providence. How 
else is no event exempted from providence ? But the 
question is, how blended ? Calvinism answers, as 
cause and effect ; or as efficient ordination, and its 
dependent, inevitable result. But Arminianism says, 
"As God's power made human will free, it does not 
by after providence invade its freedom, rule or over- 
rule it in all things," yet in such a manner that " over- 
ruling does not imply necessitating" the soul to sin, 
and its following punishments. 

Mr. Fletcher explains more at large, in reply to 
various insinuations of Mr. Toplady, on pp. 477-78, 
Vol. ii. 

"If you ask how far God's providence is concerned about 
sin, we reply, that it is concerned about it four ways. 

" 1. Before sin is committed, Divine providence is engaged 
in morally hindering Xhe internal commission of it. In order 
to this. God does two things : first, he forbids sin by natural, 
verbal, or written laws. And secondly, he keeps up our powers 
of body and soul ; enduing us with liberty, whereby we may ab- 
stain, like moral agents, from the commission of sin ; furnish- 
ing us besides with a variety of motives and helps to resist every 
temptation to sin ; a great variety this, which includes all God's 
threatenings and promises; all his exhortations and warnings; 
all the checks of our consciences, and the strivings of the Holy 
Spirit. 

"2. When sin is committed in the intention, God frequently 
prevents the outward commission, or the full completion of it, 
by peculiar interpositions of his providence. Thus he hindered 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



417 



the men of Sodom from injuring Lot, by striking them with 
blindness; he hindered Pharaoh from enslaving the Israelites, 
by drowning him in the Red Sea ; he hindered Balaam from 
cursing Israel, by putting a bridle in his mouth. 

"3. During the commission of sin, God's providence is en- 
gaged in making it, in setting bounds to it, or in overruling it in 
a manner quite contrary to the expectation of sinners. When 
Joseph's brethren contrive the getting money by selling him into 
Egypt, God contrived the preservation of Jacob's household. 
Thus, when Haman contrived a gallows to hang Mordecai 
thereon, the Lord so overruled this cruel design, that Haman 
was hung on that very gallows. 

"4. When sin is actually committed, the providence of God, 
in conjunction with his mercy and justice, is employed, either 
in using means to bring sinners to repentance, confession, and 
pardon, or in inflicting upon them such punishments as seem 
most proper to Divine wisdom. 

" Evangelically and providentially opening the way for the re- 
turn of sinners, and repaying obdurate offenders to their face, 
make one-half of God's work, as he is the gracious and right- 
eous Governor of men. We can not doubt it, if we take notice of 
the innumerable means by which conversions and punishments 
are brought about. To touch only upon punishments; some ex- 
tend to the sea, others to the land ; some spread over particular 
districts, others over whole kingdoms ; some affect a whole fam- 
ily, and others a whole community ; some affect the soul, and 
others the body ; some only fall upon one limb, or one of the 
senses, others upon the whole animal frame, and all the senses ; 
some affect our well-being, others our being itself ; some are con- 
fined to this world, and others extend to a future state ; some 
are of a temporal, and others of an eternal nature. Now, since 
providence, in subserviency to Divine justice, manages all these 
punishments, and their innumerable consequences, how mistaken 
is Mr. Toplady when he insinuates that our doctrine supposes 
God to be an idle spectator while sin is committed !" 

In more general terms, the doctrine of a particular 
providence is asserted in Vol. iii, page 210: 

" If you admit, with Epicurus, the being of a God, without ad- 
mitting an overruling providence ; if you believe not that the 



4i8 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



Creator is an all-powerful Parent, and as such, peculiarly atten- 
tive to the concerns of his immense family ; you then destroy 
all confidence in the Supreme Being ; you take from the right- 
eous their chief consolation in adversity, and from the wicked 
their chief restraining club in prosperity. 

" Mutilate this important doctrine by admitting only a gen- 
eral providence, and you destroy the particular confidence which 
holy men indulge, that God dispenses to his children, accord- 
ing to his unsearchable wisdom, both prosperity and adversity ; 
that he listens to their supplications, and will finally deliver 
them out of all their afflictions. You trample under foot the 
most powerful motives to resignation and patience ; you nourish 
discontent in the heart, and scatter the seeds of despair among 
the unfortunate. Yet all thist is done by many inconsistent advo- 
cates for morality. 

" Heathens themselves were perfectly convinced that the 
practice of morality was closely connected with the above-men- 
tioned doctrines. Cicero, in his book concerning the nature of 
the gods, seems to apprehend, that the whole edifice of morality 
would fall to the ground, were the doctrine of a particular prov- 
idence to be taken away : ' For,' says he, 'if the gods observed 
not what is transacted here below, what would become of relig- 
ion and holiness, without which human life would be replete 
with trouble and confusion ? I am persuaded that, in banish- 
ing the fear of the gods, we should, at the same time, banish 
from among us good faith, justice, and all those other virtues 
which are considered as forming the basis of society.' " 

This phrase, a particular providence, had in Mr. 
Fletcher's day, as it still has, a fixed and distinctive 
meaning. It was used by Wesley and Fletcher in 
precisely the same sense ; and if Mr. Fletcher neg- 
lected to explain it in the most cautious manner, it 
was because it was so well understood as to need no 
explanation. By adverting to the language of Mr. 
Wesley, in a former number, and examining it side 
by side with the language of Fletcher, there will be 
no difficulty in gathering what they both believed 
concerning a particular providence ; namely, that 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



419 



every event occurs by the energy, or is assumed in the 
comprehension, of that providence, and is made to 
work for the good of all who love God, and illustrate 
the attributes of the supreme Lord. 

Dr.- Coke, in various parts of his Commentary, as- 
sumes this doctrine ; and especially in his note on 
Matt, x, 30, 31, where he uses the term universality, 
in the sense of particular, as any one will perceive by 
careful attention. 

Dr. Clarke, in his Christian Theology, is more 
full, and inculcates this wholesome doctrine with suf- 
ficient explanations, and in a strain of high devotion. 
He thinks that God has not only a general, but "a 
particular providence, adapted to every occurrence, 
and applicable to all possible varieties of persons, 
place, and circumstance." He says that "nothing 
can occur to which God can not adapt a particular 
influence, by which that occurrence shall be so di- 
rected or counteracted as to prevent the evil and 
produce the necessary good." He believes that the 
providence of God — so we understand him — touches 
every thing, bears on every thing ; whether it be 
matter, or the portions of matter ; in large, or in the 
minutest portions of it ; and on all the acts of his 
creatures, not to produce them, but to comprehend 
them, as creature actions in the great scheme of his 
wisdom, and control their relations to other creatures 
and events, as seems to him least injurious and most 
beneficent. " God," says he, " disposes and governs 
the affairs of the universe, descending to the mimitest 
particulars, and managing the whole by directing and 
influencing all its parts," 



420 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



" Directing the whole by influencing all its parts 
as, for example, in the formation of the cloud he in- 
fluences each particular of the floating mass, and in 
directing the course of the whirlwind he influences 
each particle of the invisible agent, which sweeps 
along in the path marked out, to speak in a figure, 
by the Divine hand. 

It may be objected that this view of providence 
makes void the law of nature, and renders the lan- 
guage of philosophy, consecrated by the use of ages, 
glaringly improper, and almost atheistic. We an- 
swer, such a result could be reached only by render- 
ing the uniformity of nature uncertain, and thereby 
impairing the confidence of rational beings in its sta- 
bility ; that is, in destroying, or at least seriously 
disturbing, the connection of cause and effect. Now 
such a supposition entirely mistakes the whole theory 
of a special providence. The agency of God in the 
government of material nature according to fixed 
and uniform laws, and the doctrine of his special in- 
terference in the form denoted by the term special 
providence, are perfectly harmonious. For consider : 
i. The sphere of a special providence lies not so much 
in the established laws of nature, as in the facts, and 
events of human society. 2. Where a special provi- 
dence involves a direct interference with the laws of 
nature, it is not to violate, suspend, or contract those 
laws, but to modify and direct their operations. For 
instance, a drought may bring a famine, and the fam- 
ine may be the chosen method of punishing a nation. 
But in order to a drought, no law of nature needs be 
violated, or rendered the less trustworthy no faith 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



421 



in the stability of nature needs be disturbed. The 
laws of evaporation and the meteorologic conditions 
of the atmosphere could be easily directed so as to 
produce drought and famine, without offering the 
least violence to the laws of nature. The same prin- 
ciple may apply in all other cases, whether in the in- 
organic or organic world. 3. Miracles constitute the 
largest, we may say the only, exception to the uni- 
formity of the laws of nature, but they were so dis- 
tinctly guarded and defended, as to their object and 
frequency, that no possible danger can arise from 
them by way of impairing human faith in the sta- 
bility of nature ; no man is in danger of venturing 
his life in walking on the water because Jesus did, 
or withdrawing confidence in the ordinary methods of 
livelihood or cure, because Jesus fed the multitudes 
by miracle and cured the sick by his word. 4. The 
whole object of special providence is moral, for the 
manifestation of Divine paternal tenderness, and the 
encouragement of piety and virtue, and the happiness 
of the human race. It is a mode of Divine dispensa- 
tion rendered necessary by the contingency of human 
actions, by the infirmity and ignorance of human na- 
ture, and the depravity of the human heart. It is part 
of the moral government of God in its reformatory 
and protective application. In his government, as in 
all just human governments, the maxim obtains, that 
the laws were made for man, not man for the laws. 
Whoever admits the transcendent excellence of the 
human soul over brute instinct, and the infinite su- 
periority of a moral government over that of mere 
instinct and appetite, will find no difficulty in the 



422 THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



doctrine that God administers the government of the 
world, adapting it to the physical condition of man, 
with a view to his highest moral culture and happi- 
ness, which is all that is implied in the doctrine of 
a special providence. 

But the objection we are here noticing is not the 
only instance in which the philosophy of earth and 
of heaven have been found to differ. Atheism has 
changes of raiment. An ample wardrobe was its 
portion from the beginning ; and it can dress itself 
in as many colors, and tune its pliant voice to as 
many strains — in any meter that suits taste and 
times — as Satan, by his best skill and diligence, has 
been able to invent with the study and experiments 
of six thousand years. Happy for us if, knowing the 
Scriptures and the power of God, "we be not igno- 
rant of his devices." 

III. 

The word providence is from pro and videre, and 
signifies " to look after, or see to /" and in theology 
it denotes that care which God exercises over his 
creatures. It embraces Divine agency in three forms, 
namely, creation, preservation, and control. 

We must distinguish the creative acts of Providence 
from the six days' work of Jehovah. The latter orig- 
inated, or brought into existence, this world, and the 
species of beings which inhabit it. The former pro- 
duce the means of sustaining and perpetuating these 
species of beings. The}' are done in secret, as it were. 
No open voice commands, and no song or shout of 
the sons of God accompanies these life-giving acts of 



ME THODISM—PR VIDENCE. 



423 



providence. They spring forth amidst the solemn 
stillness of Nature. To devout minds they are no 
less, on that account, the tokens of God's creative 
energy. 

To illustrate this feature of providence, we intro- 
duce the following thought from a sermon on Provi- 
dence by an aged traveling preacher. It is taken 
second-hand from one who heard the discourse, and it 
may not be penned in the very words of the preacher; 
but it is in substance as follows : 

"My coat," said the venerable man, "is much more 
the gift of God than though my Heavenly Father had 
sent it to me by a company of angels from heaven. 
For, in the way I received it, God has been employed 
in preparing it for months. First, he formed the 
sheep. Then he breathed on the fields with the 
breath of Spring, and produced the green grass for 
the sustenance of the sheep. Next, he brought out 
the fibers of the fleece, and furnished the material for 
my garment. Lastly, he gave the spinner, the weaver, 
the fuller, and the tailor the skill by which the mate- 
rial was fashioned into cloth and fitted to my frame. 
When, therefore, I got my garment, it had passed 
through the hands of my Heavenly Father some half 
a dozen times." 

These remarks of the preacher illustrate our views 
of the creative energies of Providence. When the 
Lord causes grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for 
the service of man, he puts forth creative energies ; 
and, in a form which we denominate providential, be- 
cause the end to be subserved is the sustenance of his 
nobler creatures. 



424 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



But, secondly, providence implies preservation. We 
mean by this tha tGod directly interposes to preserve 
the lives and the happiness of his creatures. This is 
what is denominated "a particular providence." We 
will adduce some examples. 

Not long since two miners, Verran and Roberts, 
were sinking a shaft, and had reached to a depth of 
ten fathoms from the surface. They had one day 
drilled into the rock, inserted the fuse, and tamped it 
ready for blasting. On these occasions the men are 
drawn up by a windlass, and, as there are only three in 
a corps, there is only one man at the brace, and he can 
only draw up one at a time; consequently, after the 
whole is ready one man is drawn up, and the kibble 
lowered ready to receive the last, who has to put fire 
to the fuse, and then both men at the windlass draw 
him up with the utmost speed, in order that all may 
get out of the way when the explosion takes place, 
which is sometimes so violent that large stones are 
thrown up at the top, carrying with them part of 
the roller and windlass to a considerable height. It 
unfortunately happened that, as the safety fuse with 
which the hole was charged was longer than was 
necessary, they inconsiderately took a sharp stone to 
cut a piece of it off, and ignition immediately com- 
menced. They both flew to the kibble, and cried out 
to the man at the brace to "wind up ;" but, alas ! after 
trying with all his might, he could not start them. At 
this moment — when the hissing of the fuse assured 
them that their destruction was within half a minute — 
Verran sprang out of the kibble, exclaiming to his 
comrade, "Roberts, go on, brother, I shall be in 



ME THOD ISM—PR VIDENCE. 



425 



heaven in a minute!" Consequently, Roberts was 
drawn up, and Verran threw himself down, and 
placed his devoted head under a piece of plank in one 
corner of the shaft, awaiting the moment when he 
should be blown to atoms. 

Just as Roberts got to the brace, and was looking 
down with trembling apprehension on the fate of poor 
Verran, the whole went off with a tremendous explo- 
sion, and a small stone struck Roberts severely on the 
forehead as he was looking down the shaft. To the 
inexpressible surprise and joy of the men at the brace, 
they heard Verran cry out, "Don't be afraid, I am not 
hurt!" Roberts immediately descended, and found 
that the great burden of the blast was thrown in every 
part of the shaft except the corner where poor Verran 
was coiled up. 

This occurrence produced a state of serious feeling in 
the neighborhood, and was considered, as it must be by 
all but infidels, a direct, if not a miraculous, interposi- 
tion of Providence. To contradict this would be athe- 
istical. We know of little difference between discred- 
iting the existence and denying the providence of God. 

We derive our being from God. He who creates 
must preserve. The uncreated or self-existent needs 
no preserver. To live is the law of his nature. He 
must be, and must be as he is, without the possibility 
of change. But the creature exists by the will of his 
Creator, and by that will he must continue to be, or 
not to be. A creature has no inward principles of 
being ; he is like the stream which flows only by the 
supplies derived from its fountain. 

In preserving his creatures, God uses certain instru- 
36 



426 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



ments, but these are effectual only in his employ. We 
must not regard the instruments as the agent, or, 
while we remember his ministers, forget Jehovah who 
makes them subserve our good — who "upholds all 
things by the word of his power." 

In preserving, or afflicting us, God exercises control 
over all other creatures. He restrains wicked men, 
who would injure us. He makes the incendiary, the 
slanderer, and the murderer afraid to execute their 
malicious designs; or, if he chooses that .we shall 
suffer, removes his restraints, and they become the 
willing ministers of his displeasure. He governs the 
beasts of the forests, and when he pleases shuts the 
mouth of the lion, as he did when Daniel was in the 
den. He holds all the elements of nature at com- 
mand, and can render the most destructive harmless, 
as he did the heated furnace when his chosen walked 
in its glowing fires. 

As instances of such controlling acts of providence 
we present the following facts. The first is from Rev. 
John Newton's brief account of his own life. He 
says: "When our trade was finished, and we were 
near sailing to the West Indies, the only remaining 
service I had to perform in the boat was to assist in 
bringing the wood and water from the shore. We 
were then at Rio Cestos. I used to go into the river 
in the afternoon with the sea-breeze, procure my load- 
ing in the evening, and return on board in the morn- 
ing with the land-wind. Several of these little voyages 
I had made ; but the boat was become old, and almost 
unfit for use. This service was nearly completed. 
One day, having dined on board, I was preparing to 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



427 



return to the river as formerly. I had taken leave 
of the captain received his orders, was ready in the 
boat, and just going to put off, that is, to let go our 
ropes, and sail from the ship. In that instant, the 
captain came up from the cabin, and called me on 
board again ; I went expecting farther orders ; but he 
said he 'took it into his head that I should remain that 
day in the ship.' He accordingly ordered another man 
to go in my place. I was surprised at this, as the 
boat had never been sent away without me before, 
and asked him the reason. He could give no reason 
but as above ; that so he would have it. 

"The boat went without me, and returned no more ; 
she sunk that night in the river, and the person who 
had supplied my place was drowned. I was much 
struck when we received news of the event the next 
morning. The captain himself, though quite a stran- 
ger to religion, so far as to deny a particular provi- 
dence, could not help being affected ; but he declared 
he had no other motive for countermanding me at that 
time, but that it came suddenly into his mind to de- 
tain me." 

Those who are acquainted with the history of John 
Newton will find, in his subsequent career of exem- 
plary devotion, and of extensive usefulness in the min- 
istry of the Gospel, an additional reason for consider- 
ing him, in the above passage of his life, under the 
guidance and protection of Providence. 

The second is of recent origin: "About four 
months ago there came into Wayne county, North 
Carolina, a young man of the name of Grimsley, who 
formerly lived there, but who had been absent for 



428 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



many years. Shortly after his return, he engaged 
himself to a Miss Martin, of that county, and their 
marriage was to have taken place in a few days. Four 
or five days previous to that time, Miss M. was making 
up her wedding bonnet, and, requiring some paper for 
the lining, while in search of it, she found a news- 
paper published two years ago in Mississippi. In 
cutting up this paper, her eye lit upon an advertise- 
ment by the Governor of Mississippi, offering a large 
reward for two men charged with a murder in that 
State, one of them named Grimsley, and agreeing 
precisely in description with the man to whom she 
was about to be married. She immediately called her 
brother's attention to it, who at once called upon 
Grimsley for an explanation. Grimsley denied know- 
ing any thing about it, and said he could prove that 
he was not in Mississippi at the time of the murder, 
by persons at Snow Hill, Greene county. The brother 
accompanied him to Snow Hill ; but, on their arriving 
there, not a soul knew him. He then said that he 
could establish his innocence by persons living at an- 
other little village in the same county. There they 
also repaired, and with the like success, no one know- 
ing any thing of him. They then returned to Waynes- 
boro, where a warrant was issued against Grimsley, 
and he is now in jail at that place, awaiting the de- 
mand of the Governor of Mississippi. Since his con- 
finement, he has acknowledged that he was present 
when the murder was committed with which he is 
charged in the advertisement as a participant, but de- 
nies that he was engaged in it." 

Mark the circumstances of this development. In 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



429 



making up her wedding bonnet, just before the time 
appointed for her wedding, she needs some paper, and 
in hunting it lights on an advertisement two years old, 
which betrays to the family the base character of her 
suitor, and saves her from destruction. Surely this 
young lady will never forget that her "ways are or- 
dered by the Lord." 

The providence of God is over nations as well as 
persons. This can not be disputed. He who governs 
every part, of course governs the whole. If each 
element, then the mass composed of those elements, 
is inevitably under the ordering of Jehovah. And 
inference aside, the Bible is explicit on this point. In 
it the very title of Jehovah is "King of kings, and 
Lord of lords" — by which we are taught that mon- 
archs and their dynasties, involving the most common 
occasions of national good or evil, are his willing or 
unwilling instruments to bestow prosperity and hap- 
piness, or to inflict chastisement upon empires. 

Providence, then, comprises those creative, preserv- 
ing, and controlling acts of the Godhead by which 
»he carries on the government of his kingdom, bestows 
good, inflicts evil, and overrules all to his own glory, 
and the best interests of his creatures — and this with- 
out impairing the freedom of his rational subjects. 

Such a providence relates to special occasions and 
ends of individual life no less than to national or 
general concerns, and while it controls forces, does 
no violence to the established order of nature. In- 
deed, all order in nature, and all labors of nature, are 
but the uniform operations of the same Divine power 
upon matter. True faith sees God every-where, in 



430 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



every thing, God in his personality operating in his 
manifold methods to give existence, motion, order, 
and beneficent design to the works of his hands. 
True faith applies the promise of Divine care to all 
the minute affairs of life. Its motto is: 

Through waves, and clouds, and storms, 

He gently clears thy way ; 
Wait thou his time so shall this night, 

Soon end in joyous day. 

This is not against reason, while it is precisely con- 
genial to the felt longings of the heart and the uni- 
versal necessity of our race. The 104th Psalm cele- 
brates the special providence of God over all his 
creatures, while the 107th Psalm teaches the same 
doctrine in its application to the human species. 

" Our Father who art in heaven /" This is the lan- 
guage of devotion. The spirit of faith is a filial spirit. 
It cleaves to God with a comforting conviction that 
he is a parent. The spirit of faith exclaims, "Abba, 
Father!" with a calm and delighted confidence, which 
none without experience can in any manner conceive. 
Faith brings the soul to God. It not only opens to 
the believer a close and clear vision of Deity, but it 
produces a sense of God's intimate presence, of his 
unceasing watchfulness and unremitted regard. It 
moves the soul to look for guiding and sustaining aid 
to his eternal power and love. Faith is the best ex- 
pounder of such Scriptures as the following: "In him 
we live, and move, and have our being;" "Without 
me ye can do nothing;" "Cast ail your care on him, 
for he careth for you;" "If God so clothe the grass 
of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast 



ME THODISM—PRO VIDENCE. 



431 



into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O 
ye of little faith ?" " Therefore, take no thought, say- 
ing, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink ? for 
after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your 
Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all 
these things;" "I will not leave you comfortless, (or- 
phans,) I will come unto you;" " Every good and per- 
fect gift is from above, and cometh down from the 
Father of lights." 

These texts inculcate the doctrine of a particular 
providence. They are, on the part of God, verbal 
pledges to us his children of his unremitted and mi- 
nute attention to our specific wants — to every class 
of wants, whether they press upon the inward or 
outward man — whether they assail us through the 
senses, or by other channels of approach to the 
soul. We are taught to commence our devotions 
with the address, " Our Father !" and how naturally 
does this confiding language point us to the care of 
an ever-watchful Providence ! Filial trust looks to 
such a Providence. It implies a solicitude or watch- 
fulness on God's part, proportioned to the exigencies 
of want and clanger which beset his dependent chil- 
dren. The more helpless and exposed the child, the 
more assiduous are the attentions of its parent. It 
violates analogy, therefore, to say, as thousands do, 
that " God regards not our little interests," especially 
when this is affirmed in relation to the forming stages 
of our moral constitutions. 

From the actions of this life our eternity must re- 
ceive its stamp or coloring. And how can any thing- 
be viewed as trifling, which is confessed to be primi- 



432 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



tive or seminal in its relations to that eternity ? Of 
all beings in the universe, man may reasonably claim 
the special regards of his Maker; not surely for his 
merit, but from his moral position; because he is a 
probationer, restored to trial and to hope ; because 
he is a canditate for the purity and bliss of which 
Satan the destroyer has despoiled him. If, either of 
purpose or by inattention, God should suffer to pass 
uncontrolled occurrences which must bear on the 
happiness of angels and the interest of heaven, we 
should consider it an error — we should account it 
an instance of gross malfeasance or misfeasance in 
his high office. But even that were not so serious a 
laches in the supreme Executive as inattention to 
probationers, whose actions bear not on present ends, 
but, like suffrages at the polls, look to the future — to 
an interminable future. 

We repeat that a spirit of filial confidence in God 
implies a particular providence. And surely the 
Scriptures inculcate this spirit. If there were nothing 
on this point but the introduction of that form of 
prayer given by Jesus to his disciples, it would be 
conclusive. Is God our Father? Then will he not 
disregard the least wants or exposures of his children. 
To assume otherwise infinitely disparages Jehovah. 

It is a blessed state to have this firm trust in Provi- 
dence — to enjoy a persuasion that God is always near 
us as our guide and our shield. We should study the 
Scriptures to ascertain what they teach on this impor- 
tant theme. Having ascertained, we should learn to 
avail ourselves of its practical benefits. We should be 
prepared to make it our sudden refuge in all threaten- 



ME THODISM—PR O VIDENCE. 



433 



ing and calamitous emergencies. O let us come to 
feel that God's presence always surrounds us, and that 
his arm is stretched forth day and night in our behalf! 
The most pious and intelligent divines of every age 
have cordially embraced and earnestly inculcated this 
doctrine. To reject it is gross infidelity. It is doing 
violence to God's Word, and to the monitions of God's 
Holy Spirit in the soul. 

The world cries out " enthusiasm," when God's chil- 
dren avow this doctrine, especially when they set it 
forth in connection with examples illustrative of its 
bearing on human interests. The following instance 
of this sort, in which the gracious interposition of 
Providence is the only possible philosophical assump- 
tion — to say nothing of the principles of religion — 
provoked much derision on the part of silly infidels. 
We present it to our readers, as nearly as possible, in 
the language of the excellent man whose escape it re- 
cords, and from whose lips we received it. 

" I was lately riding a spirited horse on a cold Win- 
ter's morning, to attend a funeral some miles distant. 
During the night it had rained and frozen, and the 
road was glare and dangerous. In an effort to check 
my horse, the bit broke, and the beast no sooner felt 
his liberty than he rushed forward at his best speed. 
I endeavored at first to blind him with my hands, and 
then to check him 'by pinching his ears ; but all this 
only exasperated the animal. As a last resort, I loos- 
ened my feet from the stirrups, and prepared to leap 
to the ground. But just on the eve of this perilous 
adventure, it occurred to me that the force of the fall 
on the frozen earth would be fatal, and I concluded to 

37 



434 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



keep my saddle, and commit the issue to Providence. 
The horse was now approaching the town, and I 
judged that by some sudden start or contact I and my 
horse were both likely to be killed. Suddenly it oc- 
curred to me 'pray! — pray to God to stop the horse/ 
For a moment I hesitated to look for so special a 
mercy ; but the impression returned, ' pray,' with still 
more force, and with a mind as calm as. though I had 
been kneeling in the closet, I lifted up my heart in 
supplication, and asked God to interpose. Scarcely 
had I breathed my petition till the horse stopped as 
suddenly as he could have done with safety to the 
rider, and stood as quiet as a lamb. I dismounted, 
fashioned the throat-latch into a bit, adjusted the 
bridle, turned back, collected my umbrella, hat, port- 
manteau, etc., which were scattered along in my wake, 
and proceeded on my journey in peace." 

Was it unreasonable in my friend to ascribe his 
preservation to God's providence, and render praise 
to his almighty Preserver ? 

Another incident illustrative of the special care of 
Providence was related to us in the following circum- 
stances. Seated in a coach with myself and family, 
in 1840, was Mrs. K., an accomplished and devout 
lady in the decline of life, who had long ago learned 
to trust in God. We were returning from an excur- 
sion in the country. Either the coachman was care- 
less, or the horses were difficult to manage. As we 
passed clown a hill, in a narrow passage, the left 
wheels ran upon a bank, and for a half a minute the 
coach was so near upsetting that it seemed to be ex- 
actly balanced on its right wheels It finally settled 



ME THODISM—PR O VIDENCE. 



435 



to its proper position. With gratitude for our escape 
we began to talk about former perils. 

" In early life," said Mrs. K., " I was afraid to ride 
in a carriage. But we had a gentle horse, which I 
dared to drive by myself, though I was afraid of all 
other horses. Going abroad one day, I came to the 
top of a hill, long and steep, with a high bank on 
one side, and a ravine on the other. Half-way down 
the hill was a loaded cart, moving after the tread of 
two lazy oxen. Just as I was commencing the de- 
scent, my horse started, and rushed down the hill. 
The first thought was, 'I am lost!' But instantly 
my mind settled down into sweet composure, and 
looking to God with confidence, my heart exclaimed, 
1 1 am safe!' I dropped the lines, and grasping each 
side of the carriage, which was now going at a rapid 
rate, I looked at the cart before me as unconcerned 
as though I had beheld it from my window, though I 
perceived no way of escape. The horse took in be- 
tween the bank and this lazy vehicle. One front 
wheel of the carriage struck the cart, and the other 
was buried in the bank. The horse at the same in- 
stant broke loose from the carriage, and ran on, while 
I was left sitting in composure in my upright car- 
riage — one wheel buried in the dirt, and the other 
locked in the cart, now standing still. From that 
hour," said Mrs. K., " I have never been afraid to 
ride in a carriage, nor am I easily alarmed at any ec- 
centric or threatening motions of horse or vehicle." 



436 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



VIII. 

FAITH NOT MERE SPECULATION. 

OW does the creature obtain or receive the 



J. benefits of redemption ? Is the redeeming act 
of Christ, ex vi ipsius, or of its own force, salvation 
to the human soul ? We certainly think not. Con- 
trariwise, to some Christ preached is a " stumbling- 
block," to some " foolishness," to some a " savor of 
death unto death ;" but to others he becomes the 
" wisdom of God," and " the power of God unto sal- 
vation." And he becomes the wisdom of God and 
the power of God unto salvation " to every one that 
believeth!' Faith is that according act of the soul 
on the part of the subject, by which this redemption 
is applied. So the Scriptures constantly affirm ; and 
the history of man, of his fall, of his continued moral 
defection, and its causes, confirms the doctrine. His 
fall in the garden was by unbelief of God, through 
the seductive persuasions of the serpent. When re- 
stored, it was by faith in God's promised Messiah ; 
which faith was both encouraged and proclaimed by 
the sacrifices of the altar. The righteousness of the 
patriarchs and prophets was the righteousness of 
faith. " Abraham believed God and it was accounted 
unto him for righteousness." Unbelief has ever been 
considered the grand and fatal sin of our race. The 
discrediting of the Word of God, and the contempt 
and persecution of its messengers, are every-where in 




FAITH NOT MERE SPECULATION. 



437 



the Old Testament represented as the chief offense 
of the human family. In the New Testament, the 
loss of privileges and the gain of privileges are at- 
tributed to unbelief and to faith. The Israelites are 
broken off from the Church like a withered branch 
from the stock, through unbelief; and Gentile con- 
verts are grafted in by faith. And the promise is 
made that the Israelites, if they continue not in un- 
belief, shall be restored to the stock again. Once 
more — faith is directly proposed as a condition of 
our salvation : " He that believeth, and is baptized, 
shall be saved;" "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and thou shalt be saved." Unbelief, on the other 
hand, is announced as fatal to the soul : " He that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned." The Apostolic epistles 
confirm the doctrine of salvation by faith. Read the 
letter of Paul to the Romans. This doctrine com- 
mends itself to every humble mind for the following 
reasons : 

I. It invites man, in his most depraved estate, to 
activity in religious pursuits. Knowledge is essential 
to faith. As in science, themes must be proposed, 
and propositions advanced, and illustrations (if need 
be) offered, in order that the just demonstrations of 
truth may follow ; so in religion, there must be 
theme, and proposition, and illustration ; and these 
the Scriptures give us. Now who does not see that 
it becomes necessary to inspect the Holy Scriptures 
diligently and devoutly, in order to discern the 
themes, propositions, and illustrations therein spread 
forth to the speculation of the mind ? It is not ours 
to affirm the impossibility of salvation without the 



433 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



Scriptures. Nor is it ours to allege that one who 
might have read the Bible, and refused to do it, can 
in no case be saved. But it is ours to declare, that 
the man who seeks no religious instruction in a land 
of Bibles and sanctuaries, has placed himself as far 
from the mercy-seat of God as man can ever go, till 
he descends to hell. So far as man can judge, he is 
in as unfair a way to obtain that faith which is unto 
salvation, as is the scholar to become a good geome- 
trician without inspecting the postulates, and axioms, 
and theorems of that science. See, then, in this view 
of faith, what a field it opens for the exertion of the 
intellect ! See how it gives man something to do, 
and calls into most earnest and anxious strife all the 
energies of his ever-active mind ! But there is another 
reason why the doctrine of salvation by faith com- 
mends itself to the approbation of man ; and that is — 
2. Because it does not consist in speculative knowl- 
edge alone, but also in a happy state of the affections. 
On this point we would rather speak "as becomes 
the oracles of God," than intermeddle with metaphys- 
ical distinctions. The Scriptures speak of "believing 
with the heart unto righteousness." When the eunuch 
asked baptism of Philip and of the Holy Ghost, the 
reply was, " If thou believest with all thine heart thou 
mayest." In another Scripture, faith is represented 
as " working by love." Surely these texts are plain, 
and stand uncontradicted in their import. The first 
declares that "man believes with the heart unto 
righteousness ;" the second requires that belief zvith 
the heart ; the third affirms that faith works by love. 
This doctrine will be rendered more reasonable by 



FAITH NOT MERE SPECULATION. 



439 



considering the different articles of Christian faith, 
and the mode by which various religious truths, em- 
braced in these articles, may be confirmed in the 
mind. Some religious truths are believed upon bare 
speculation, and these we would call the postulates 
of religious science. Such as, " There is a God." 

Others are accredited upon testimony and specula- 
tion combined. As, God created the heavens and the 
earth, God is wise, God is omnipotent, God is good. 

Others are believed from testimony alone. As, 
the Messiahship of Jesus Christ — his crucifixion, 
burial, resurrection, and ascension. So with historical 
details generally. 

Other religious truths are believed from testimony 
and experience. As, " There is no peace to the 
wicked;" "Being justified by faith we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ;" " Great 
peace have they that love thy law." Now, in these 
cases the matter set forth by the testimony of God 
lies in experience. And if experience do not accord 
with that testimony, it is all in vain to expect a cor- 
dial belief of the testimony itself. No man will be- 
lieve that the love of God is shed abroad in his heart 
by the Holy Ghost given unto him, upon bare testi- 
mony, even though it be the testimony of God, if he 
is absolutely unconscious of such love. But if God 
has testified of the blessedness of such love, and ex- 
perience confirms it, the whole heart yields its assent 
to the testimony. "He that hath received his testi- 
mony hath set his seal [to it] that God is true." 

Here we would observe, that faith, such as consti- 
tutes the Christian, embraces all the testimony of God, 



440 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



and cordially embraces it. It as cordially receives 
the testimony of God concerning the creature, as 
concerning the Creator. To believe that there is a 
God, a Messiah, a heaven, and a hell, is no better 
than infidelity if we stop here. Devils believe all 
these things, and remain devils still. To be Chris- 
tians we must go further than they. We must believe 
all that the Scriptures assert concerning our deprav- 
ity, our danger, our ill desert. We must believe, that 
" except a man be born again he can not see the king- 
dom of heaven ;" "that which is born of the flesh is 
flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 
We must believe that the kingdom of God is right- 
eousness, peace, and joy ; that we, believing on the 
Son of God, have the witness in ourselves ; that the 
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we 
are the children of God. Now, how can we believe 
these things ? Some of them, we acknowledge, are 
seen to be true, some are to be admitted upon bare 
testimony, but some of them can never be believed 
with the heart, or heartily, till they are felt to be true. 
That is, the testimony of God concerning them must 
have but a slight power over us, till experience cor- 
roborates that testimony. This applies to all those 
subjects which involve the human feelings and con- 
ciousness. In all such cases faith must advance and 
develop by gradational steps of experience, till it en- 
wraps the soul and absorbs the faculties in a true evan- 
gelical heartiness. Faith in the statement, "In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth," 
may be as complete before conversion as afterward, 
as perfect in a sinner as a saint, because it requires no 



FAITH NOT MERE SPECULATION. 



44I 



change of the moral affections to make the evidence 
of it comprehensible. But faith in the statement, 
" There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them 
which are in Christ Jesus," can never become perfect 
but by an experience of that being " in Christ" 
wherein the import of the testimony lies. Our assent 
to the truth, antecedently, may and must be sufficient 
to authorize and encourage experiment, but it can 
never be complete without experience. If God has 
borne testimony to our guilt and wretchedness, and 
our painful consciousness has set its seal to its truth, 
we may also advance through repentance to the 
higher trust in our offered Savior, and demonstrate 
by experience the testimony of God as to all the 
blessedness of pardon and reconciliation. In such a 
case the testimony is only as the diagram, and experi- 
ence is the demonstration. A man who gathers up 
the theories of religion from the Holy Bible, does 
right as far as he goes, but if he stop here, he has not 
evangelical faith. The man who acquires a knowledge 
of the various geometrical definitions, postulates, and 
axioms, does right as far as he goes ; but if he pro- 
ceed no further, he will not be a scholar. He must 
pass from these to the demonstrations, if he would 
discern the beauty of the science. What demonstra- 
tion is in geometry, such is experience in religion. It 
clears the heavenly science of a thousand mysteries, 
and establishes the faith of the Christian. 



442 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



IX. 

OMNISCIENCE OF DEITY. 

ON this subject some would set forth and defend 
the views of Dr. A. Clarke. We think, how- 
ever, that they select a theme which they would do as 
well to leave where the Doctor left it ; and especially 
if they maintain the Doctor's views. The Doctor 
teaches that God's omniscience consists not in know- 
ing all things, but in the ability to know them ; just 
as his omnipotence consists, not of his doing all things, 
but in an ability to do them. He says : " As God can 
do many things which he does not choose to do, so he 
can know many things which he does not choose to 
know." We reply to this suggestion — 

First. The Scriptures do not teach us that God 
does all things, but they do assert that God knows 
all things. 

Second. The Scriptures often proclaim the suspen- 
sion of God's acts, but they never hint at a suspension 
of God's knowledge. 

Third. The word omniscience does not signify an 
ability to know, but it signifies actual knowledge of all 
things ; whereas, on the other hand, the word om- 
nipotence does not signify actually doing, but only an 
ability to do all things. 

Fourth. It was an error, therefore, in Dr. Clarke — 
and, intimate as he was with the etymology of the 
words, it was a singular error — to compare omnis- 



OMNISCIENCE OF DEITY. 



443 



cience and omnipotence in the manner he did, for the 
purpose of illustrating the former by the latter. He 
might as well have said : As brown does not mean 
white, but only a lighter shade than black, so why 
may not white signify not white, but only a lighter 
shade than black ? The difference between brown 
and white is not greater than the difference between 
omniscience and omnipotence, in the point of com- 
parison instituted by the Doctor. 

Fifth. Omniscience and omnipresence may be com- 
pared for the purpose of illustrating the significancy 
of the former, as they are resembling words. Let us 
observe, then, that omnipresence signifies God's esse?t- 
tial and his necessary ubiquity, or his continued pres- 
ence every-where. It does not signify his ability to be 
every-where, but his being, necessarily and always, 
every-where. None will for a moment conjecture that 
God does, or even can, at any time, withdraw his essen- 
tial presence from the minutest portion of his vast uni- 
verse, by choosing to be no longer omnipresent, any 
more than he can withdraw his presence from the 
whole universe, and, by choosing, cease to be at all.. 
All will concede that God's existence is necessary; 
and they will concede that his omnipresence is as 
necessary as his existence, neither being dependent 
on his choice. But the science and the presence of 
God are co-extensive. He can no more limit the 
former than he can the latter. His science depends 
on his presence ; and so long as he is omni-pvesent, 
he must be omniscient also. These attributes can 
not be severed. 

It follows, then, that God's knowledge is as per- 



444 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



manent and as extensive as his presence — and it is, 
therefore, infinite and immutable. 

How glorious is this in the Lord God of Hosts ! 
It makes him, as to intelligence, a fit governor of his 
creatures in heaven, and earth, and hell. These 
creatures are all, and ever, present to his mind, in all 
their states, and in all their actions. Past and future, 
temporal and eternal, are known to him by a vision 
as clear and as certain as that which scans the pass- 
ing present. With God the past is not remembered. 
With God the future is not anticipated. To God all 
is near, nothing is remote. He is every-where — and 
of consequence all things are equally proximate to 
him in place. He fills all eternity — and of conse- 
quence all things are equally proximate to him in 
period. His knowledge, unlike that of his creatures, 
hath no change by increase or diminution — by loss or 
recovery. It ebbs not while he sleeps by night, to 
flow again when he wakes by day. It does never wax 
or wane. This boundless ocean is tideless and eter- 
nal. It embraces and retains, forever and ever, the 
infinite of space and the infinite of duration. 

These remarks on the omniscience of Deity are 
made with all due reverence for him whose views they 
question. Blessed be the memory of Adam Clarke, 
whose very errors are almost hallowed by the sanctity 
of his life and the splendor of his genius. But why 
should we hallow his errors ? His virtues win him 
enough of human admiration, and all his errors are 
needed to temper it. His name among men is as 
ointment poured forth ; and he will shine as the stars, 
forever and ever. But to assume his infallibility 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



445 



would wrong both him and his divine Lord. For he 
professed himself to be a man, and not God ; and his 
favorite motto, which he delighted to inscribe on the 
front of every thing which he fashioned for public 
scrutiny, was, " By the grace of God I am what I am." 




MILLENNIUM, A STATE OF GENERAL HOLI- 
NESS. 

IT is generally believed that a time is approaching, 
in which the Church of God shall attain a state 
of high improvement, and shall embrace in her com- 
munion a large portion of mankind. This belief en- 
courages the friends of Zion in their prayers, and 
labors, and contributions. It rouses the zeal of 
Christ's ministers, and inspires the missionary with 
the high and holy purpose of consecrating himself, 
and all he has, to the service of the heathen. To 
strengthen these motives to self-sacrificing zeal, we 
should endeavor to form, as nearly as possible, just 
views of those prophecies which assure the Church 
of a state of millennial prosperity. What will then be 
the condition of the Church ? This question is an- 
swered by the inspired penmen, in the prophecies of 
the Old and New Testaments. Two of these, Isaiah 
and John, have given to the Church the most clear 
and satisfactory testimony on this subject. We think, 
however, that commentators have not generally given 
to their language its most obvious and natural con- 



446 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



struction ; but have, by torture, almost silenced the 
oracles which they professed to consult, or at least 
have divested their language of its proper significancy. 
Look at the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and compare 
it with the Apocalyptic description of the millennial 
glory. In the eleventh chapter of Isaiah there is, 
first, a description of Christ's lineage, person, attri- 
butes, and regal glory : 

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, 
and a Branch shall grow out of his roots : and the spirit of the 
Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understand- 
ing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and 
the fear of the Lord ; and shall make him of quick understand- 
ing in the fear of the Lord ; and he shall not judge after the 
sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears : 
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove 
with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the 
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips 
shall he slay the wicked." 

The glorious effects of his reign are presented in 
metaphorical descriptions, from verse six to eight : 

" The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion 
and the fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them. 
And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall 
lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And 
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the 
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den." 

The ninth verse places us in a new position, from 
whence we take, as it were, a bird's-eye view of the 
state of the Church, and survey at a glance its inimi- 
table beauty and glory : 

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain : 
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea." 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



447 



When we read these graphic descriptions, and 
recollect that they do not flow from unchastened im- 
aginations, but are sketched by the prophets of God, 
we can not but think that the popular estimate of the 
blessings of the millennium is quite too low. And if 
so, the Church suffers. The motives to self-sacri- 
ficing zeal in the great cause of evangelizing the 
world are weakened, and do not, can not exert a due 
influence on the minds and the hearts of Christians. 
We venture, at the hazard of being thought unduly 
fond of novelty in religion, to present an unusual, but, 
we believe, a Scriptural view of the millennium. Let 
those who would disparage it, attempt it by sound 
Scripture objections. We know that they who deny 
the doctrine of Christian purity, as held by the Meth- 
odists, and inculcated in the Bible, will, of necessity, 
demur. But we see no reason why we should object 
any thing but Scripture declarations — if such decla- 
rations can be found — against the views we here ad- 
vance. Let it be recollected that two things are 
pledged to Zion to effect that blessed renovation for 
which the world now groans and travails, namely : The 
pozver of God is to be employed in this work; and 
the power of Satan to tempt and to seduce is to be 
entirely suspended. Now, reader, turn to the eleventh 
chapter of Isaiah, especially to the ninth and pre- 
ceding verses, and place it before you as you read 
what follows. 

It has often been questioned whether the millen- 
nium will be a state of perfection or only of improve- 
ment. It is believed by some that these prophecies 
were uttered under the influence of ardors which 



448 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



were unfavorable to exact description, and that fancy, 
rather than sober vision, moved and guided the pro- 
phetic pencil. We object to this hypothesis. It 
depreciates too much the prophetic character ; it 
reduces to scorn the Scripture revelation ; and, last 
of all, it reproaches God himself. To mention these 
objections is sufficient. They will bear in every im- 
partial mind the force of irrefutable argument. The 
chapter of which we speak refers to the millennium. 
In the first five verses the Messiah is described in 
the same glowing style as obtains throughout the 
chapter. And are we to assume that this description 
of the Savior is also a fancy picture ? that the prophet 
in his ardor exaggerated the beauties and glories of 
Immanuel? The thought is profane. In speaking 
of this "rod from the stem of Jesse," crowned with 
the wisdom, and girded with the strength of God- 
head, we agree that the prophet uttered sober truth. 
And why should we suppose that he who spoke with 
such sobriety concerning Zion's King, became a 
prophet of mere fancies in speaking of Zion's king- 
dom ? We believe that the philologist, as well as the 
prophet, was inspired, and that the phraseology em- 
ployed in this description is intended to shadow forth 
a perfect moral state. 

In this the prophet confirms us. He teaches us 
that the world will suffer so great a change as to be 
worthy of a name of honor utterly unsuited to its 
present character. In expectation of that change 
God calls it " his holy mountain." The appellation 
is high and glorious. It could scarcely be applied to 
that which bears the slightest impress of sin and suf- 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



449 



fering. It would form a proper designation of heaven 
itself, with its glorious hierarchies and its everlasting 
thrones. 

When applied to less than heaven, it must at least 
imply an object in which all pure and lofty attributes 
possible to creatures are made to concentrate, and 
from which all others are excluded. And such shall 
be this world. 

It is called mountain, which indicates that God will 
place it high in his affections, will exalt it among his 
worlds, and will station around it the guards of his 
omnipotence. It is called holy, and that in a sense 
not negative, but positive ; not merely to indicate its 
freedom from defilement, but as a dwelling-place of 
holiness — as the home of spotless beings, who will 
adore their Maker with seraphic ardor, and will extol 
him with everlasting anthems. 

It is called God's holy mountain, not simply to des- 
ignate his property therein, but in token of his pur- 
pose to dwell and reign there, and make it glorious as 
the place of his rest. The language indicates that 
the whole earth will be sanctified, and will become 
this mountain of God. The islands and continents, 
the rivers, seas, and oceans, shall aspire to this divine 
honor, and shall not aspire in vain. God will impress 
a comely uniformity upon every thing terrestrial — a 
uniformity not of outward aspect, but of moral, spirit- 
ual grace. The inequalities which now obtain be- 
tween nations, civilized and barbarous, Christian and 
heathen, will disappear. The " Sun of Righteous- 
ness" shall rise on all the nations. Every valley 
shall be exalted, and every mountain shall be brought 

38 



450 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



low ; the crooked places shall be made straight, and 
the rough places plain." The state of the world will 
then be one of perfect innocence. There shall be 
nothing to hurt or destroy. What a picture is this of 
the happiness of a renovated world — a picture with- 
out one gloomy shade, fair as light, and comely as 
heaven ! 

Now, almost every thing is charged with some ma- 
lignant influence. Whatever may attract us, we ap- 
proach dreading some latent evil. When we pluck 
the rose, we watch for the thorn ; when we recline in 
bowers, we dread the serpent ; when we gather sweet 
fruit, we select the salutary from the poisonous ; when 
we breathe the most fragrant atmosphere, we are ap- 
prehensive of the pestilence, Human associations, 
which seem to promise security and rapture, are found 
to he both perilous and painful. Even friendship de- 
ceives us. It invites our confidence, betrays our weak- 
nesses, and triumphs in our agonies. The strongest, 
purest love, such as glows in the maternal bosom, has 
been known to turn back its streams, or to be dried 
up in its fountains. In fine, every thing animate and 
inanimate, rational and irrational, is less our friend 
than our foe ; is more to be dreaded than to be de- 
sired ; is more to be avoided for its probable malig- 
nity, than to be sought for its possible advantages. So 
true is this, that experience teaches us to assume a re- 
pulsive attitude toward every thing around us, and 
either bid defiance to the world, or yield ourselves its 
despairing victims. Such a world as this God has 
adopted as his own, and has purposed that, by regen- 
eration, it shall become the seat of unoffending inno- 



THE MILLENNIUM. 



451 



cence, and of universal love. After a few more 
generations, ours will become a sanctified race. All 
will be holy. Not a thought, or sentiment, or agent 
of evil will be found in all these regions of terror, 
pain, and death. Where all will be holy, there can be 
no need of suffering, for the purposes either of disci- 
pline or punishment. Every bosom will then over- 
flow, not as now, with malignant passions, but with 
charities pure as the love, and refreshing as the mercy 
of Godhead. Frequent and joyous, then, will be the 
communion between earth and heaven. No more 
will angel messengers bear from Paradise commis- 
sions of vengeance. They will descend as ministers 
of mercy, to adore Immanuel, in this his holy habita- 
tion, and to salute with pure embraces the redeemed 
of his love. No more shall pestilence and death go 
before Jehovah ; but he shall lay his hands upon the 
nations to bless them, and from his rainbow smile 
shall distill diffusive raptures, to crown the bliss of 
this new-created world. While earth and heaven will 
be so intimately blended, powers infernal shall dread 
the holy concord, and quake at their affiance. Earth 
and hell shall be divorced. Their everlasting league 
shall be rudely broken, and all their ancient covenants 
shall be dissolved. The devil and his angels shall be 
exiled to the pit, and not come forth to vex the na- 
tions. The omnipotent dynasty of Zion's King will 
guard the approaches to that holy mount, which will 
then be the seat of an empire as secure and impreg- 
nable as the barriers of heaven. 

And now, can you scarcely anticipate the approach 
of these scenes ? Do you deem it almost too much to 



452 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



be believed, that out of materials so unsightly as the 
world now contains, there should arise a beauty so 
perfect ? That from such vile discord, there should 
arise such harmony ? That from a universe of groans 
and tears, there should arise a universe teeming with 
bliss, and flooded with rapture ? We know it is a mat- 
ter in which doubt is facile, and faith is difficult ; yet 
we have at hand a cure for skepticism. God has 
pledged this blessedness to the world, and his cove- 
nant is begun to be fulfilled. The testimony of his 
lips, and the evidence of our senses, are a sufficient 
confirmation. Whoever suspects his naked word, his 
covenant, his oath, may behold the world in its grad- 
ual transit from a lower to a higher moral station. He 
may witness the working of meliorating influences, or, 
rather, of regenerating energies, which, from their 
effects, are known to be of sufficient force and virtue 
to complete the new creation. It is in harmony with 
all the analogies of physical force and change in the 
world of nature, and of moral causes and effects in 
human society, as attested by the history of the 
Church, to suppose that the spiritual forces new op- 
erating in the world are adequate to produce this 
mighty change. The time may seem long, but " here 
is the patience of the saints." " He that shall come' 
will come, and will not tarry." In the fullness of the 
times it shall be accomplished — Satan shall be bound 
and cast into the bottomless pit, and Christ shall live 
and reign with his saints a thousand years. 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



453 



XI. 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 
E learn that the Rev. Richard Treffry, member 



» V of the Wesleyan Connection, England, has 
written an elaborate work, to sustain this vital Script- 
ure doctrine. We have not seen the book ; and the 
most extended notice of it which has fallen under 
our observation, is from Zion's Watchman. Last 
February, this paper, apt at criticism, noticed the 
work, and demurred most cordially to the doctrine 
which it defends. In conclusion the Watchman pre- 
sented thirteen propositions, which it designated "axi- 
oms," and invited whoever could and would, to expose 
their fallacy. We thought this would be promptly 
done by some other hand ; but as no one, to our 
knowledge, has done it, we propose to examine the 
Watchman's "axioms" and see if they merit a bap- 
tism indicative of absolute invulnerability to the as- 
saults of argument. 

But first, the introductory remarks of the Watch- 
man must be noticed. After a few general thoughts, 
a statement of the disputed point is set forth thus : 

" In the work before us it is argued that the Scriptures use 
the title Son of God to designate the pure unoriginated Divinity 
of Jesus Christ', in opposition to those who maintain that the 
title Son applies, only, to his human nature, and to his person, 
in his complex character as the mediator between God and man. 
Hence, Mr. Treffry attempts to show that the Godhead of our 
Savior was 1 born,'' 1 brought forth] and ''begotten from eternity.' 




454 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



He says: 'A real sonship involves identity of nature; and if 
the generating nature be divine, and, of consequence, eternal, 
the nature generated must, also, be divine and eternal.' ' For 
what is a son but a personal, vital production of the same na- 
ture as his producer ?' i We conceive of God as an eternal, in- 
dependent, self-existent substance ; and, if there be three such, 
without origination, or other relation, tritheism is inevita- 
ble.' ' This subject, I apprehend, may be reduced to a very 
simple form — Can God be an eternal fountain of existencey.or 
can he not? A categorical reply to this query would probably 
set the matter at rest' " 

On glancing at these paragraphs the query is sug- 
gested, whether Mr. Treffry does attempt to show, 
that the Godhead of our Savior was " bom, brought 
forth, and begotten from eternity." There is nothing 
in this extract, we should presume, to warrant such 
an inference. 

But the Watchman proceeds to say : 

" We are not able to conjecture whether our author was un- 
willing to state the real question fully and fairly, or whether 
it did not occur to him that he only gave a partial statement 
of it, in the last sentence above quoted. Can God be an eter- 
nal fountain of another unoriginated existence, or can 
he not? This is the question. To be an eternal fountain of ex- 
istence, and a fountain of an eternal existence, are two very 
different, and, we may say, eternally different things. And this 
is, probably, the reason why the advocates of the notion of an 
eternal sonship are unwilling to allow the competency of the 
human mind to judge of the truth of the doctrine without admit- 
ting three expositions of the Scriptures in its support." 

Certainly it could not have occurred to Mr. Treffry, 
nor do we presume it will occur to any of his readers, 
who clearly apprehend the question and the power of 
language, that his is "a partial statement of the ques- 
tion." The word "unoriginated" is sophistically in- 
terposed by the Watchman. "Unoriginated" may, 



ETERNAL SON SHIP OF CHRIST. 



455 



from popular usage, as well as etymological signifi- 
cancy, convey to the incautious mind the idea of be- 
ginning, and time ; whereas Mr. TrerTry evidently uses 
it as synonymous with produce, denoting a connection 
or relation, from which the ideas of beginning and 
time may justly be excluded, if we suppose the pro- 
ducer to be eternal. 

"To be an eternal fountain of existence, and to be 
a fountain of an eternal existence, we may say, are 
two eternally distinct things," says the Watchman. 
They are, indeed, distinct in form, but they are pre- 
cisely the same in import, as it relates to the question 
of Christ's eternal sonship. If God is an eternal 
fountain, he is so because eternal streams flow from 
him. If there was a period in which effluence of 
being could not have been predicated of God, tJien 
he was not a " fountain of existence ;" for this term, 
fountain, denotes not merely being, but a mode, or 
state, or relation of being. 

The two forms of expression which are taken to be 
" eternally different," differ so much as this only that 
when you say God is " an eternal fountain of exist- 
ence," you imply, by the strictest necessity, an eter- 
nal current of existence proceeding from him. But 
when you say he is a fountain of eternal existence, 
you imply by strict necessity, that the fountain is 
eternal. In short, eternal fountain implies eternal 
effluence, and eternal effluence implies eternal fount- 
ain. Of course, assert either directly, and you assert 
the other also by necessary implication. There can 
no more be a fountain without a stream, than there 
can be a cause without an effect ; and in the above 



456 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



forms of expression the difference is, that in the for- 
mer you assert the eternity of the cause (fountain), 
and so imply the eternity of the effect (stream) ; in 
the latter you assert the eternity of the effect, and so 
imply the eternity of the cause. 

But we will pass to the " axioms," and see if there 
be any fallacy in them — a point which the writer 
seems to be more than willing should be examined. 
We present them in their order: 

" i. He who begets must, necessarily, be in duration before 
him who is begotten. In duration the Father must be before the 
Son. In philosophical fact, the material sun was created before 
the light which it produces. How much more true must it be, 
therefore, that God existed before he put forth that agency by 
which he begat his Son ?" 

We fault this axiom, as starting with erroneous as- 
sumptions, and, of course, deducing from them false 
conclusions. One erroneous assumption is the non- 
eternity of the Paternal God. This assumption is 
contained in the application of the words " before " and 
"duration," as they stand connected, to God. That 
these words do assume the non-eternity of God, is 
shown by the Watchman's own language. From the 
introduction of the tenth axiom (which see*), we are 
warranted to say, that eternity precludes the bounds 
of measure, so that we can not say of God's duration 
before, or after. Of creatures (for instance, the ma- 
terial sun), you may say the cause must be before the 
effect, and " he who begets must be in duration before 
him who is begotten." But you can not with philo- 

* Infinitude precludes the bounds of number, so that we can not say 
of any one of God's volitions, that it was the first, or of another, that 
it will be the last. 



ETERNAL SONS HIP OF CHRIST. 



4S7 



sophical accuracy speak thus of God. You may say 
of God the Father, " He who begets must exist when 
(not before) he thus begets ;" but the axiom assumes, 
" /// duration the Father must be before the Son" Then 
the Father, we reply, must be //^-eternal as well as 
the Son ; for if eternal, his duration precludes the 
bounds — and relations — of measure, so that we can 
not say of any period of that duration, that it bears 
the relation designated by "before" to another (the 
begetting) period of that duration. Before and after 
are properly applied to the material sun and his light, 
for both being of limited duration, they can be meas- 
ured by each other, and the results of the comparison 
can be designated by " before and after." For exam- 
ple, two or more objects floating in a current of -water 
may be said to be one before the other ; but the term 
before implies not only the currency of the waters 
which impel those objects, but it also implies cer- 
tain points to which the floating objects bear different 
relations of distance, namely, the source or the estu- 
ary of the stream. Let time be represented by the 
stream, and as it has currency, and source, and estu- 
ary, all its objects may be qualified by these words, 
before and after. But eternity is a boundless ocean, 
whose waters are at rest, and all that is eternal is mo- 
tionless therein, and subject to no such relations or 
comparisons as imply pretention or succession. 

We think these remarks are sufficient to expose 
"the fallacy" of the first axiom. But lest some of our 
readers should think otherwise, we submit a parallel 
axiom which is most evidently fallacious, and in the 
light of which every mind will discern the sophistry 

39 



453 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



of that proposition — axiom — for which ours is substi- 
tuted. We shall adopt the Watchman's own lan- 
guage, simply substituting act for "beget," etc.; thus : 

" He who acts must necessarily be, in duration, be- 
fore the act which he performs. In duration, God 
must be before any of his own acts. In physiological 
fact, man was created before he acted. How much 
more true must it be, therefore, that God existed be- 
fore he put forth any agency of any sort !" 

And what follows? Why, the axiom proves, un- 
less it be fallacious, that there was a period in which 
God had passed an eternity a parte ante, as an infi- 
nitely inactive essence of being. 

II. The second axiom has the same show of truth 
as the first ; and yet when attentively considered, may 
be seen to be equally fallacious. Its apparent conclu- 
siveness depends, in a great measure, upon the equiv- 
ocal signification of some of its terms. It reads thus : 

"Existence which has been produced, can not be said to be 
uii07'iginated. The divine nature of Christ is unoriginated, un- 
produced, hence, there is no sense in which it can be said to 
have been ' eternally begotten.' " 

We reply, if "produced" and "originated" in the 
first proposition, are used as synonymous, it is indeed 
axiomatic, but the axiom has no argumentative force 
or virtue. It is like saying, " that which has been 
produced can not be said to be unproduced," and is as 
senseless as to say, that which is white can not be 
black. But if "produced and originated" are used 
in different senses, their signification must be under- 
stood before it can be determined whether the axiom 
be fallacious. If produced and originated both signify 



ETERNAL SONS HIP OF CHRIST. 



459 



beginning, we consent to the axiom. But we presume 
Mr. Treffry uses produce in the sense of procession ; 
and if he applies originated to the Son, he also — 
rather improperly, we confess — uses it in the sense of 
procession. In our remarks, by originate we intend 
beginning, as well as procession, or production, for this 
it etymologically implies. Produce, we use in the sense 
of procession. With this explanation we proceed. 

To expose the fallacy of the second axiom, we pre- 
sent the following series of axioms. Combined they 
prove the truth of that which the Watchman denies ; 
and in order to invalidate the argument, it will be 
necessary to invalidate some one of the axioms, or 
detect a non seqnitur. 

So long as any agent has possessed the faculty of 
production, so long he may have exercised that fac- 
ulty ; but God has possessed the faculty of production 
from eternity, and, therefore, from eternity he may 
have exercised that faculty. Again : So long as the 
faculty of production has been exercised, so long ex- 
istence has been produced by the operation of that 
faculty ; but God may have eternally exercised that 
faculty, and, therefore, existence may have been eter- 
nally produced by it. Again : What is eternally pro- 
duced, is itself eternal, and, therefore, can be said to 
be unoriginated, that is, without beginning. It fol- 
lows, that the divine nature of Christ, though unorig- 
inated, may still be produced ; and in the sense of 
"produced" may "be said to be begotten." In these 
propositions we repeat the caution, that we use the 
words originated and produced in different sense, but 
produced and procession in the same sense. 



460 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



III. Let us now turn our attention to the third ax- 
iom, leaving our remarks on the second to be re- 
viewed if necessary : 

" One unoriginated being can not produce another unorigin- 
ated being. No one man on earth can tell in what conceivable 
sense an imoriginated being can have been begotten — hence it 
follows that the divine nature of Christ was neither ' begotten ' 
nor ' born.' 

" Existence which has been begotten, has had a beginning. 
Why speak of the Son as having been ' begotten ' if he had no 
beginning? To be 'begotten' is to begin to be." 

The first period only is in the axiomatic form ; the 
rest is argument. " One imoriginated being can not 
produce another imoriginated being." If this is true, 
that which follows is true ; and vice versa. But this 
"axiom" is no axiom, at all events. If the proposi- 
tion be true, argument must vindicate it ; for there is 
nothing self-evident about it. To justify this asser- 
tion, we need only resort to our former method, and 
place an axiom beside it, thus : " One originated — not 
unoriginated — being can not produce another ^orig- 
inated being." This is self-evident, and therefore an 
axiom. But the Watchman's proposition is not only 
no "axiom," but it is erroneous, and is proven untrue 
by the series of propositions presented under, the 
second axiom, which see. The argument which is 
constructed upon this false assumption is of course 
good for nothing. It affirms that "no man on earth 
can tell in what conceivable sense an unoriginated 
being can have been begotten." We answer, Christ's 
imoriginated nature is begotten in the sense of being 
produced, or in the sense of procession, from the 
Father — the only sense in which the term begotten is 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



461 



predicated of Christ, and, hence, the divine nature of 
Christ may be begotten, or, if you choose, " born," 
using the expression " born " as synonymous with 
begotten. 

The Watchman proceeds: "Existence which has 
been begotten, has had a beginning." This is no ax- 
iom ; but the following is : " Existence begotten in 
time has had a beginning." But we follow this with 
another axiom equally invulnerable, namely, existence 
eternally begotten — produced or processive — is eter- 
nal. If the Watchman would say, that existence can 
not be eternally begotten, we reply, that the logical 
propriety of the phrase has been thoroughly vindi- 
cated under his second " axiom ;" and if he object he 
must commence his assault there. The Watchman 
says : " Why speak of the Son as having been begot- 
ten, if he had no beginning ?" We answer, because 
the Son is eternally produced, or processive. It af- 
firms again, " To be begotten is to begin to be." We 
reply, no. To be begotten is simply to be produced. 
Beginning is no more essential to being begotten, 
than is color, weight, or magnitude. Time is just as 
certainly a mere circumstance of "being begotten" as 
either of these. Color and weight are indispensable to 
some beings and not to others. If it be a thing cor- 
poreal and terrestrial, they are indispensable ; if it be 
a thing spiritual, they are dispensable. So of " being 
begotten ;" beginning is a mere circumstance, not at 
all of the essence of the thing. If the begetting fac- 
ulty is temporal, beginning is indispensable to the be- 
gotten ; but if the begetting faculty is eternal, then to 
the begotten beginning is dispensable. 



462 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



IV. The fourth axiom is as follows : 

" Action and volition are necessarily implied in the term 'be- 
gotten.' This term when applied to the divine nature of our 
Lord, either implies action or volition on the part of the Father, 
or it does not. If it does, then it follows that the divine nature 
of Christ owes its existence to a previous action of God, and 
hence, it is denied. If it does not imply this, then it has no 
meaning, and should never be affirmed of the Godhead. 

" If the divine nature of Christ was begotten, his existence 
was a consequence of the act by which he was begotten. 

" To beget signifies to bring that into existence which did not 
exist before." 

The first clause only is in the form of axiom ; and 
this is but a repetition, in altered terms, of preceding 
"axioms." "Action and volition are implied in the 
term begotten." Whether this be true or false, is a 
question of no moment in regard to the eternal Son- 
ship of Christ. If true, " it does not follow," of course, 
" that the divine nature of Christ owes its existence to 
a previous action of God." Previous action ! Then let 
let the Watchman date that previous action as far back 
as eternity will admit ; and when that date is fixed, 
let him say, here the begotten filial nature of Christ 
must have begun to be. This is the only way in 
which he can vindicate the assertion, that " the divine 
nature of Christ owes its existence to a previous act 
of God," because "the term begotten implies volition." 
Let us reason in another way. We will allow, for 
once, that "action and volition are necessarily implied 
in the term begotten." And now let us see if this ad- 
mission is not in perfect harmony with the eternal Son- 
ship. We presume that the Watchman will admit, what 
we might at all events infer from its language, that 
as long as, or ivhenever God possessed the power of 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



463 



"volition and action," so long, or tkenever, the Son 
may have been begotten. But God eternally pos- 
sessed the power of volition (action), and therefore the 
Son may have been eternally begotten. 

Moreover, it can not be disputed, but that " the 
first begotten of God " (on the supposition that " be- 
get " implies volition) co-exists with the begetting op- 
erative power of God. None will deny that God's be- 
getting power is eternal ; and will any deny that his 
power is eternally operative ? We think not ; and if 
not, then "the first begotten of the Father," Jesus 
Christ, is co-eternal with the eternally operative 
power — that is, volition or action — of God to beget. 

Thus far we have supposed it true, that the term be- 
get implies volition. But now it is time to withdraw 
the admission. We deem it as great an error in phi- 
losophy as it is in Scriptural theology, to assume, that 
the Father voluntarily begets the Son. We no more 
credit this than we would the palpable error contained 
in this proposition. Existence implies volition, and 
therefore God owes his existence to a previous voli- 
tion of God. 

We consider the distinction of persons a necessary 
mode of God's existence, which himself does not vol- 
untarily assume, and which he can not change. He 
can no more cease to be Son, or Spirit, than he can 
cease to be Father, or to be God. Or if active in 
producing the Son, it is an activeness from which he 
can not cease, any more than he can cease to be 
omnipresent, omnipotent, or omniscient — which last 
some have imagined might even be possible to God. 
We dispose then of the dilemma, which the Watch- 



464 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



man places in such formidable array "against the doc- 
trine of the eternal Sonship, first, by denying that 
its inference is legitimate, if its axiom were true ; and, 
second, by denying the truth of the axiom itself. If 
any thing be inferred from philosophical, or physiolog- 
ical facts, to impart plausibility to the strange as- 
sumption, that " the term beget implies volition," we 
will resume the subject. 

But the Watchman says, if "beget" does not im- 
ply volition, it has no meaning, etc. No meaning! 
If I say the sun begets the beams which light up the 
dawn, is there no meaning in it ? Here beget im- 
plies no volition, surely. What can the Watchman 
mean, when he says " begotten " has no meaning, un- 
less it implies volition ? 

The Watchman adds, If the divine nature of 
Christ was begotten, his existence was a conse- 
quence," etc. No, it is not. Christ's existence is a 
production of, or a procession from the essence of the 
Father, as the beams are from the sun, but is no more 
the sequence of an act, than is the sunbeam a sequence 
of action on the part of the sun. To beget, says the 
Watchman, does signify to bring into existence what 
did not before exist. So it does, but it also signifies 
mere impartation, which may be temporal or eternal, 
according as that which imparts is itself temporal or 
eternal. 

We conclude this part of the subject, by referring 
our readers to the preceding axioms, and suggesting 
that the difficulty with the Watchman is a unit, and 
that there is only a change of terms in these several 
axioms, but for which one axiom is the same as four. 



ETERNAL SONS HIP OF CHRIST. 



465 



V. The fifth axiom reads thus : 

"There can be no real difference between ' eternal generation ' 
and eternal creation. The advocates of the eternal Sonship 
tell us that the Son was produced by an ' eternal generation ' 
But why not say he was eternally created? If he were created, 
he would not owe his existence to the act of creation, any more 
than it is now pretended he does to the act of 'generation.' 

" There is no more contradiction in saying that God created 
this world 'from eternity," than there is in affirming that he 
begot a Son 'from eternity.'" 

To the first clause we reply : Between " eternal gen- 
eration " and "eternal creation," there is as great a 
difference as can be expressed by phrases so brief, if 
we use the term "generation," in its strictly proper 
sense ; and so the Scriptures use it when applied to 
Christ. In an improper sense, God's creatures are his 
children, that is, figuratively, as a manufactured arti- 
cle is said to be the offspring of the mechanic who 
constructed it. In this improper, figurative sense, 
whatever God has made, as the world and all its 
animal tribes, is the offspring of God. But Christ is 
so the Son of God, as to stand in that relation aside 
from, and above all creatures, being called " the only 
begotten Son of God." Do the Scriptures apply this 
term, "begotten," to designate the production, by 
God, of any creature ? It is used to signify the ac- 
tion of the Word and Spirit in producing the spirit- 
ual life of man ; but is it ever applied as to the 
creation of Adam? We recollect no instance. But 
whether or not, is immaterial, for if creatures are ever 
spoken of as begotten, it is in an improper sense ; so 
that Christ is still "the only 'properly' begotten of 
the Father." 



466 THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 

The difference, then, between "generation," and 
creation, is just as "real" as is the difference between 
the origin of the child in a method by which it re- 
ceives all the inchoate properties, susceptibilities, and 
powers of the parent, and the fashioning of a doll, 
which, with the image of a child, possesses not one 
of its generated vital attributes. 

In " generation," the father's pure, perfect essence 
proceeds, flows out from inherent into effluent form ; 
and its effluent form — person — is the same, in prop- 
erty, attribute, prerogative, and glory, as its inher- 
ent — person — form. Creation is no procession of 
God's nature or essence, as is implied in generation, 
but is existence outward, objective to the essence of 
Deity. To create properly signifies producing things 
and their natures — which natures are the marks, or 
tokens, of their creature character. If their natures 
are not an invention, then, as of necessity, they must 
have a nature of some sort — it is a nature uninvented, 
and there is but one such in the universe, that is, God. 
And if they are of the nature of God, they are not 
of the nature of creatures ; and as they can not be 
creatures without the nature of creatures, they are 
not creatures, and therefore are not created, but if 
they exist at all, exist as God. The Son of God, ex- 
isting by generation, and not by creation, has an un- 
invented nature, that is, the nature of Deity, and un- 
originated nature, because such is the nature of 
Deity, and yet a " begotten " nature, because it is the 
effluent, processive essence of God. " Why," says the 
Watchman, "not say that Christ was eternally cre- 
ated ?" The advocates of the eternal Sonship say 



ETERNAL SONS HIP OF CHRIST. 



467 



that Christ is eternally "produced," because this is 
Scriptural and philosophical. It is Scriptural, as any 
one may see, who will consult the first chapter of He- 
brews — it is philosophical, so far, at least, as that no 
principle of philosophy impugns it. An effluent, di- 
vine essence is no more mysterious than an inherent 
divine essence. But to say that Christ was eternally 
created, would be unscriptural, for the Scriptures 
speak of him as begotten. It would philosophically 
contradict the idea of his Sonship, because creation 
implies to produce not only being, but a nature or 
mode of being, unlike the uninvented nature of God. 

We care not how much any one speaks of eternal 
creations, if the phrase be not applied to the Son of 
God. But if eternal creation be possible and true, 
and were predicable of Christ, this would destroy his 
proper Sonship ; because his eternal creation would 
imply a nature unlike Deity, while proper generation 
implies the community of nature, between the gen- 
erator and the generated. 

The Watchman proceeds : " If he were created, 
he [the Savior] would not owe," etc. The Son owes 
nothing to the Father, either in the sense of depend- 
ence, or of moral obligation, grounded on dependence. 
God the Father, in begetting God the Son, exercises 
no affection of benevolence, any more than he does 
for the purpose of continuing to be. To beget the Son 
is just as necessary to the Father as self-existence. 
To the Watchman's last clause, therefore, we reply, 
that whether it is Scriptural or philosophical, to say 
that God created the world from eternity, we will not 
stay to dispute ; but that Jesus may be called the 



468 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



eternal Son of God, as "eternally begotten' (rather 
than as "eternally created") by the Father, we trust is 
made plain to all. And last, not least, if eternally be- 
gotten and eternally created are equal terms, in refer- 
ence to this great question, then begotten and created 
are equal ; for equals being taken from equals, the re- 
mainders are equal. Now, suppose the Son ship of 
Christ be not eternal, as the Watchman insists, how 
is Christ — created — begotten in time, the Son of God, 
in any higher sense than Adam was, who also was 
thus — created — begotten ! and in what sense is Christ 
the Son of Man, if, as "created" — begotten — in time, 
he is the Son of God ? We are curious to know. 

VI. The sixth and seventh axioms are variations 
from some of those already noticed, and have been 
answered. 

" Creation and generation which never had any beginning, 
never did exist. Nothing can be said to be without beginning 
but the one underived nature of the eternal God." 

The following proposition is precisely like the above 
in argumentative force and virtue : Thought and voli- 
tion are as strictly the result of pozvers operating, as 
is "generation." Then, "thought and volition which 
never had a beginning, never did exist." But . God 
never began to think or to will, therefore thought and 
volition never existed in the mind of God ! 

Again : "Nothing can be said to be without begin- 
ning: but the one underived 'nature' of the eternal 
God." But to think and to will are not the " nature " — 
essence — of God, but flow from the infinite faculties 
of that nature in operation; therefore thinking and 
willing are not eternal (began) with God, and for some 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



469 



eternal while past he neither thought nor willed, that 
is, he was neither an intelligent nor an active being. 

" ' Ineffable generation ' and ineffable creation are precisely- 
similar and inexplicable terms. We are told that the generation 
of an unoriginated being is ineffable; truly, and so is an un- 
originated creation 'ineffable.' " 

" Eternal generation " is no more ineffable than 
"generation" and eternity are. Eternity is ineffable, 
generation is ineffable ; and when the two ideas are 
blended, they are ineffable. We do not believe that 
the Son of God is a generated "being" but we be- 
lieve he is a generated person of Godhead. If there 
be any thing more ineffable in the idea of unorigin- 
ated, generated Son, than there is in the idea of an 
unoriginated generating Father, let it be pointed out. 
The eternal generator, and the eternally generated, 
are precisely equal in ineffability. 

Eternally thinking and eternally possessing the 
powers of thought are equally ineffable. The greater 
mystery is the eternal, uncaused existence of mind, 
rather than its eternal exercise. So in regard to the 
generation of the Son, the mystery is, the uncaused, 
eternal existence of the begetting power, rather than 
its eternal operation, producing the Son. 

VII. "A being whose existence is predicated of an act per- 
formed by another, can not be unoriginated. To say, therefore, 
that the Divine nature of our Lord was 'begotten,' 'generated,' 
'produced,' and born, is to attach terms to it which imply, as far 
and as clearly as meaning can be expressed in human language, 
that the Divinity of Christ, per se, owes its existence to the act 
of the Father by which it was 'begotten.' " 

The Watchman travels in a nutshell. The follow- 
ing axiom corresponds with the above, and exposes 



4/0 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



"over and over again " things thrice answered. That 
which is predicated of the operation of powers or fac- 
ulties, can not be unoriginated. To say, therefore, 
that the thoughts of God are begotten, generated, pro- 
duced, or given birth to, by the mind of God, is to 
attach terms to them which, clearly as possible, imply 
that God's thinking owes its existence to the opera- 
tion of his mind, and of course he must have begun 
to think at some point, previous to which he never 
thought. 

VIII. "Infinitude precludes the bounds of number, so that 
we can not say of any one of God's volitions, that it was the 
first, or of another that it will be the last ; and hence it is in- 
tuitively evident, that, though there ma}" never have been a time 
when the Deity did not act. yet each of his actions had a begin- 
ning, just as really as that they have had an existence." 

" If one of God's actions (say that of his begetting a Son) 
can have been without beginning, then each of his actions 
may have been without beginning, and if they were without be- 
ginning, then they are eternal, and hence we have as many 
eternals as there have been actions, attributable to the Divine 
agency to all past eternity. And not only so. but his actions, in 
all coming time, must be unoriginated, though not performed till 
to-morrow, or after the general judgment !" 

These ninth and tenth axioms have nothing to do 
with the doctrine in question. They only serve to 
indicate extreme confusion of thought, and an almost 
incredible misapprehension of the doctrine of Christ's 
eternal Sonship. It is a sufficient answer to these in- 
coherent paragraphs to say, that " begetting the Son " 
is no more a voluntary act of the Father, than to be 
omnipresent is his voluntary act. Father, Son, and 
Spirit are the eternal persons of Godhead. Father 
and Son denote eternal relations, in which two of 



ETERNAL SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 



471 



those persons exist, and the term begotten is predi- 
cated of that relation, not to denote a preterite act 
of the Father, but to denote an ever-present and neces- 
sary mode of being. 

IX. This will be further explained by noticing the 
eleventh axiom ; 

" To affirm that the Divine nature of Christ was begotten 
from eternity, is to say that it is not eternal. That existence 
which is eternal, is from eternity and to eternity, without having 
been ' begotten,' 'produced,' or made." 

Answer: To affirm that God existed from eternity, 
is to say that he is not eternal. This form of speech 
is as often used concerning the eternal Father, as it 
is in relation to the eternal Son. Now, although we 
have no objection to such phraseology in religious 
discourse for devotional purposes, yet in a philosoph- 
ical discussion of the eternal Sonship, it is to be dis- 
carded. We do not affirm nor allow that Christ was 
begotten from eternity. We say, Christ is eternally be- 
gotten, and that existence which is eternally begotten 
is eternal. The Father begets the Son to-day, as truly 
as ever ; he eternally begets him. Inherent Godhead 
flows out, is processive, effluent to-day, and always 
zvas, and always will be. That — the inherent — is the 
Paternal God ; this — the processive — is the Filial 
God, both persons being of one essence, co-equal, co- 
existent, and, of course, co-eternal. 

X. This leaves the twelfth axiom as harmless as all 
the preceding : 

" What the Scriptures affirm concerning Christ's having been 
'begotten,' is certainly confined to time, for God himself says, 
'Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.' " 



472 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



What the Scriptures here affirm, is perfectly con- 
sistent with the eternal generation of the Son, for if 
his generation is not a preterite act, but always an 
eternally present mode of being, the Father can say, 
in all eternity, "this day," this moment, "have I be- 
gotten thee." 



GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. 
HE incarnation of Christ is fundamental to Chris- 



A tianity. The distinctive character and essence* 
no less than the mystery and glory of Christianity, lies 
in the doctrine of " God manifested in the flesh." 
It is the time of year in which the birth of the Savior 
is brought specially before the mind, and a few plain 
thoughts on the human nature of Christ, and the 
reasons why he assumed it, may be profitable. 

Jesus Christ possessed the human nature as well as 
the divine. The Scriptures inform us that " the Word 
was made flesh, and that God was manifest in the 
flesh." Hence, he is called the Son of man, that is, 
he that possessed the human nature. He is said to 
be "the seed of the woman," "the seed of Abraham," 
"the offspring of David," to be "a child born," "a 
son given," to be " conceived by the Virgin Mary ;" 
all of which show that he truly possessed the human 
nature. He took not on him the nature of angels, 
but he took upon him the seed of Abraham. Inas- 
much as we were partakers of flesh and blood, he also 



XII. 




GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. 



An 



took part of the same. The Word that was made flesh 
dwelt among us, emptied himself, put off the form of 
God in which he had subsisted before all worlds, and 
took the " form of a servant, being made in the like- 
ness of men." He was made in all points like unto 
us, yet without sin. 

Nor was it merely the likeness of man that he as- 
sumed ; but, though more than man, he became very 
man. Though the Ancient of days, he became an 
infant, a child; and the child grew, and waxed strong 
in spirit, and the grace of God was upon him. He 
was subject to all the innocent infirmities of human 
nature ; he felt hunger, thirst, weariness, pain ; he 
eat, drank, slept. He possessed a reasonable human 
soul. "Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. 
His soul was sorrowful even unto death." This ap- 
pears further from "his gradually increasing in wis- 
dom, in his waxing strong in spirit, in his having a 
will of his own distinct from the Father. He was 
sensible of mere human affections, such as sorrow, 
Mark xxvi, 28 ; joy, Luke x, 21 ; love, John xi, 5 ; an- 
ger, Mark iii, 4. These, and such like passages, cer- 
tainly demonstrate that he was very man, having the 
soul as well as the body of man ; and that his divine 
nature was neither converted into flesh, nor supplied 
the place of a human soul in his body. As certainly 
as his being sensible of hunger, thirst, weariness, and 
pain, with his eating, drinking, and sleeping, proved 
that he had a real animal body ; so certainly his grad- 
ually increasing in wisdom, his sorrowing, rejoicing, 
hoping, fearing, loving, desiring, grieving, or being an- 
gry, demonstrate that he had a human soul, or spirit, 

40 



474 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



like unto ours in all things, sin only excepted. This 
soul, or spirit, he committed into the hands of his 
Father when dying. 

Hence, in regard to his human nature, he is de- 
scribed as being weak and ignorant of some things, 
not being able to do any thing of himself, and not 
knowing the day of judgment. He loved God, obeyed 
his commandments, and sought his glory. He fre- 
quently prayed to him, and "offered up prayers and 
supplications with strong crying and tears, and was 
heard in that he feared." In all these particulars, and 
such like, there are plain references to his human na- 
ture ; and as man, and not as God, he is represented 
as inferior, and dependent on the Father. But why 
did he assume the human nature, and for what end 
was it necessary ? We find, in answer to this, that it 
behooved him, or was necessary, that it should be so. 
Because, 

1. Partaking of human nature he became, not the 
relative of angels, but our relative, our kinsman, our 
brother, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh — 
which is a blessing particularly noticed by the apostle 
when he says, " Both he that sanctifies and they that 
are sanctified are all one," of one father, Adam, as 
well as of one Father, God, and, therefore, of one 
common nature ; "forwhich cause he is not ashamed 
to call them brethren." Heb. ii, 11. Now, by this 
event, our common nature is unspeakably honored 
and advantaged. 

2. We see in his incarnation the same nature ex- 
piating sin through which sin entered into the world. 
We behold the Seed of the woman atoning for sin, 



* 



GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. 



475 



which was first introduced by the woman. And thus 
sin was condemned in that flesh which introduced it. 
(See Rom. viii, 3.) 

3. He was made acquainted by experience with our 
infirmities, learned to sympathize with us under them, 
and became willing and able to succor and support 
us in all our trials and troubles. " It behooved him," 
says the apostle, " to be made like unto his brethren, 
that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest." 
And again: " We have not a High-Priest who can 
not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; 
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet with- 
out sin." Not that it was requisite he should become 
man, simply to know our infirmities, for he, as God, 
knew them already ; but to assure us that he did 
know them, and to convince us that he was merciful 
and compassionate. 

4. Thus he was qualified to be our instructor and 
teacher, or prophet, and to appear among us in a free 
and familiar manner, so as neither to overawe and 
alarm our minds, nor astonish and overpower our 
faculties — which would have prevented all discern- 
ment of, and rational information concerning, the im- 
portant truths he was to communicate. When God 
spoke from Sinai, " the people removed and stood afar 
off, and they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us 
and we shall hear ; but let not the Lord speak with 
us lest we die." Ex. xx, 19. ''They that heard en- 
treated that the Word should not be spoken to them 
any more. And so terrible was the sight that Moses 
said, I exceedingly fear and quake." Heb. xii, 19-21. 
When Daniel saw a vision of an angel, "his comeli- 



476 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



ness was turned into corruption, and he retained no 
strength." The shepherds were sore afraid when 
the angel, that announced the tidings of the Savior's 
birth, appeared to them. Now, Jesus Christ does not 
confound us by the thunders of his Deity, nor does 
he terrify us by assuming an angelic form ; but he 
sits on the mount, and teaches the following multi- 
tudes ; or goes from city to city, teaching familiarly 
his sublime truths. 

5. By becoming incarnate, he became a proper ex- 
ample, adapted to our weakness, and proper for our 
imitation, which the example of a heavenly Being, 
that had never dwelt in flesh, never could have been. 
An angelic example would not be proper for our im- 
itation, whether angels are a superior or inferior order 
of beings to man. If they are a higher order of be- 
ings, their example would be above our imitation ; 
and, if they are a lower order, it would be unworthy 
our imitation. At any rate, their nature is not en- 
tirely the same with ours, nor are they in similar cir- 
cumstances, and so become unfit patterns for us to 
follow. But Jesus Christ, in assuming our human na- 
ture, and being placed in similar circumstances, is 
our great model, by which we may form our lives. 
Hence, he could with propriety say, " Learn of me, 
for I am meek and lowly in heart. Follow me." He 
has, therefore, left us an example, that we might fol- 
low his steps. And we need not say how much such 
an example was necessary to guide men in the way 
of happiness. 

6. Being thus clothed in flesh, and made man in 
nature, he was qualified to atone for sin, by suffering 



GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH. 477 



death, that sin should be condemned in the same na- 
ture that had transgressed. For, as God, he could 
not die or suffer, and "without shedding of blood 
there is no remission of sins." It was requisite he 
should assume a human body that he might have 
blood to shed. Therefore, " It behooved him to be 
made like unto his brethren in all things, that, as a 
merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining 
to God, he might make reconciliation for the sins of 
the people." Hence, he gave himself a ransom for 
all, and was offered to bear the sins of the many. 
Thus, he was qualified to expiate sin, and procure for 
us redemption through his blood, even the forgive- 
ness of sins. 

7. It was thus he overcame death and the grave. 
For in him we see our very human nature raised 
from the dead, and invested with immortality. Hence, 
we are said to be begotten again to a lively hope of a 
heavenly inheritance, by the resurrection of Christ 
from the dead, he being raised from the dead, as "the 
first fruits of them that slept," and his resurrection 
being a pledge of ours. Now, if he had not been 
truly man, his resurrection would have afforded us no 
just ground for hoping that we should rise also. But 
when we see one of ourselves — one that was as truly 
man as we are — rising from the dead, we have good 
reason for believing that we shall rise also, especially 
since he is a public representative of all men. 

Since Jesus Christ came into the world to save sin- 
ners, let us greet the anniversary of his incarnation 
in a becoming manner ; let our devotion be kindled 
within us ; let our songs of gratulation be sung ; let 



4/8 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



our pulpits treat in form of the incarnate God ; let 
the house of worship be frequented, and ever}' becom- 
ing expression of Christian gladness welcome the day 
in which a Savior was born. But let us entreat all 
not to profane this day. Is the roar of cannon, the 
celebration of sports, the assembling for prohibited 
conviviality, and the like, the proper way to express 
our gratitude for our redemption? There is only one 
way in which these questions can be solved ; and no 
one can be at any loss to know how to give a solu- 
tion. Let us, too, remember that the appearance of 
Jesus Christ, in the day of judgment, will be very dis- 
similar to his appearance in a manger at Bethlehem. 
Let those who read consider. 



XIII. 

THE NEW BIRTH. 

A YEAR ago my friend was a young attorney, in- 
tent on earthly good. This day finds him a 
humble minister of Jesus, cheerfully dispensing with 
his former prospects, and seeking his highest enter- 
tainments and joys in such scenes as are here de- 
scribed. Is it mystery? Read the account of Saul's 
persecuting acts, of his conversion, and ot his minis- 
try, and it may authorize you to credit the mystery, 
though it should not help you to comprehend it. It 
requires a perfect patience to bear with men who 
will have religion to be divested of all mystery, and 



THE NE W BIR TH. 



479 



who account Christianity to be incredible just so far 
as it seems mysterious. If Christianity had no mys- 
teries, it would be incredible for the very reason that 
it had none. 

What work of God, or dispensation of providence, 
is without mystery? The theist boasts of the light 
of nature, and avers its sufficiency for all the benefi- 
cent purposes of a Divine revelation. And pray, are 
there no mysteries in that great volume ? It is little 
else but mystery. There is not an entity in nature, 
though it be the minutest particle of matter, but in- 
volves almost innumerable mysteries in regard to its 
origin, properties, and relations. Those laws of phys- 
ics, which are supposed to be best understood, are as 
thorough mysteries, when the mind proceeds to ulti- 
mate inquiries concerning them, as is the doctrine of 
the new birth, which so surprised the incredulous 
Nicoclemus. 

Some weeks since we listened, with notable admi- 
ration, to a philosophic discourse — sermon — on the 
new birth. The preacher evidently proposed, in his 
mind, to clear up all mysteries on this subject, and 
make the whole matter perfectly intelligible. For 
this, he would of course take care of the facts, and 
suit them to his powers of explanation and illustra- 
tion. " What is this new birth?" was the first ques- 
tion. And this he fixed exactly to his mind. " The 
new birth is the development and perfection of those 
powers which nature has bestowed upon us!' See 
what learning can do in an exigency. Here, thought 
we, is a youth of twenty-five — for such he was — who, 
trained in the halls of science, and issuing from the 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



schools of the prophets, accomplishes with the utmost 
ease, what Christ and his apostles would not attempt, 
though challenged again and again to do it. Touch- 
ing this subject of regeneration they behaved as 
though the whole were inexplicable, or as though 
their hearers had no capacity to receive and compre- 
hend their explanations. So it was with Jesus Christ. 
To the saying, " Except a man be born again," Nico- 
mus demurs. " How can a man be born when he is 
old ?" Pity it is that our young philosopher had not 
been there, to explain, like a very Daniel, all the ap- 
parent mysteries of this procedure. He could have 
answered, " O ! do n't mistake. There is nothing 
strange in this. I mean nothing very special by this 
new birth. It is not a great thing, as one might 
suppose. It imparts no new faculties — it creates no 
new powers — it roots out nothing that is present, and 
inserts nothing that is absent — it is 'merely develop- 
ing and perfecting man's natural powers and gifts.' " 
Can any one doubt that the ancient caviler would have 
been satisfied ! He might have doubted the propri- 
ety of using such a figure to inculcate such doctrine ; 
but he would not have exclaimed, with a skepticism 
made incorrigible by the awkwardness or the igno- 
rance of his teacher, " How can these things be ?" 

Jesus made no such felicitous explanations. He 
involved the subject in deeper mystery, rather than 
cleared it of such as provoked the master in Israel. 
" The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh 
nor whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of 
the Spirit." Let the picture of Nicodemus and the 



THE NEW BIRTH. 



blessed Savior be before you, with the words of this 
dialogue fresh in your memory ; and then behold just 
on your right a modern juvenile divine stand up and 
interpose a few remarks in this colloquhtm. "Thou 
canst not tell whence it cometh," saith Jesus, "/say 
it is from within you," saith the youth, confronting 
the prophet of dark, perplexing mysteries, " I say it is 
from within, and is merely the development and per- 
fection of the powers and gifts of nature !" Your 
own fancy must create the finished picture. We sup- 
pose that the new birth is just as much the perfection 
of what nature bestowed upon us, as the cultivation 
of a crop of wheat, on a field of thorns and briers, is 
the development and maturity of all the vices of the 
soil. Man and the world were doomed and cursed 
together, and the lighter malediction fell upon the 
latter. Why should a vain and half-atheistic theol- 
ogy, gazing upon a world replete with the tokens of 
God's reprobating vengeance, and admonished of the 
utter moral ruin of human souls, deny that the heart 
of man needs a radical change, a rooting out of vices, 
a breaking up of fallow ground, and a sowing to 
righteousness according to God's Word! We would 
as soon advise the husbandman to develop wheat and 
precious fruit, from the seeds of thorns and thistles, 
as to call on ruined man to cultivate the powers which 
nature gave him, and render them prolific of the love 
and praise of God. 

But how shall any one obtain this new birth, and 
so be satisfied that it consists of a radical change of 
heart ? We answer, he must turn philosopher, and 
thus find it out. He must become a true philosopher, 

4i 



482 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



by rejecting speculation where he may profit by ex- 
periment. This doctrine may be tested by experi- 
ment. A. and B. are chemists. A. on a certain 
occasion issues from his laboratory, and says to B., " I 
have just produced such and such results, by the ex- 
periments of this day." B. denies it. " Go," says A., 
"and apply the proper tests of our science. You 
know we can legitimately affirm and deny in the lab- 
oratory. Spend an hour there, and you will be better 
prepared to appreciate my testimony." "No," says 
B., " I will contradict you without waiting for the re- 
sults of experiment." Is not B. guilty of great indis- 
cretion ? Nay, do not the principles and genius of 
all true science condemn him as an unworthy disci- 
ple in her school ! No more than they do you, my 
friend, when, without one effort at experiment, you 
deny the new birth, or explain it to be, " the mere de- 
velopment of the powers which nature bestowed upon 
you." Acting so indiscreetly, so unworthy your pro- 
fession of knowledge, so adverse to the spirit of all 
true philosophy, you need not be reminded of that 
saying of Christ, " He that doeth my will shall know 
of the doctrine, whether it be from heaven or men." 

The witnesses to this radical change are neither so 
few in number, nor so unworthy in character, as to 
deserve no regard. Millions in this and other ages 
certify the reality of this great change. Some of 
them are more and some less worthy to be credited — 
some are more and some less intelligent and upright. 
The greater the variety of witnesses, the more diffi- 
cult would be the work of deception. If many of 
them are unlearned and ignorant persons, the more 



BLINDNESS OF UNIVERSALISM. 



483 



striking is their testimony ; because, with all their 
ignorance, they give a most Scriptural account — as 
Paul did before Agrippa — of the great work wrought 
in them by the power of God. And if " so great a 
cloud of witnesses " can do no more — if they can not 
by their testimony convince, they ought at least to 
raise in our minds such a presumption (a very slight 
presumption should answer that end) in favor of this 
doctrine, as will induce us to make the experiment 
and satisfy ourselves that religion is, or is not, all that 
its most enthusiastic advocates allege. If they in- 
sisted on your receiving their naked testimony, you 
might complain ; but when they propose to you a 
sure test, and place in your hands the means of know- 
ing what they affirm to be true or not true, they may 
complain of you as ungenerous in refusing the test, 
and as grossly dogmatical in contradicting their tes- 
timony. 



BLINDNESS OF UNIVERSALISM. 
HE vices of this heresy are so gross and so 



-A- palpable, that to expose them is like arguing 
against the exploded system of Tycho Brahe, or the 
dreams of the astrologers. The following sad lament 
from one of its periodicals, is in perfect keeping with 
the genius of this rickety theology : 

"The Contrast. — The result of preaching the Gospel in 
the days of our Savior was joy and rejoicing. It is said of those 
who listened to him, that they wondered at the gracious words 



XIV. 




4 8 4 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



which fell from his lips : and we are certified, that he spoke to 
the people that their joy might be full. The same effects were 
visible in the preaching of all sent forth by Heaven. One re- 
markable example of this fact is recorded in the eighth chapter 
of Acts. We are informed that 1 Philip went down into Sama- 
ria and preached Christ unto them, and there was great joy in 
that city.' All those who believed rejoiced with joy unspeaka- 
ble and full of glory ; and where before all was gloom and dark- 
ness, light and glory sprung up. The following Scripture 
phrases expressive of the happiness produced by the proclama- 
tion of Jesus and the resurrection will demonstrate this more 
fully still : ' These things have I spoken to you that your joy 
might be full — disciples filled with joy and the Holy Ghost — the 
abundance of their joy abounded to riches — received the Word 
with joy — that your joy may be full — be glad with exceeding 
joy — returned to Jerusalem with great joy.' 

" These are only a few of the many passages expressive of 
the great joy that was produced in the Apostolic times by the 
preaching of the Gospel of Christ. But hark ! What a change 
has been effected during this time among many of the professed 
followers of Jesus. Be astonished, O ye people of the nine- 
teenth century, at the tale ! Now, the preaching of what is 
called the Gospel produces precisely the opposite effects. Now, 
unless sorrow, dismay, gloom, and anguish are the fruits of 
preaching, it is declared of no avail." 

We invite the reader to compare the above with 
the account given us (Acts ii) of the day of Pente- 
cost. The effect of Peter's sermon on that occasion 
was, "When they heard these things they were pricked 
in their hearts!' We should be pleased to hear of 
one instance in the whole history of Universalism, in 
which a sermon from one of its ministers produced 
this effect. Suppose you, as a stranger, should step 
into a church, not knowing what people worshiped 
there, and under the sermon twenty of the hearers, 
being pricked in their hearts, should cry out, " Men 
and brethren, what shall we do ?" and the preacher 



BLINDNESS OF UNIVERSALISM. 485 

should reply, "Repent and be baptized every one of 
you for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the 
gift of the Holy Ghost ;" would it ever enter into your 
mind that the preacher was a Universalist ? 

Again, look at the fifth chapter of Acts and thirty- 
third verse, and see whether the preaching of Uni- 
versalists ever produced the effect there indicated. 
Look also at the effect produced by the sermon of 
St. Stephen. "When they heard these things they 
were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with 
their teeth." 

One thing invariably precedes the joy of Christ's 
disciples according to the Scriptural account of it ; 
that is, receiving the Holy Ghost. Read the Acts of 
the Apostles, and you will find this to be the case. 
Thus in the second of Acts and thirty-eighth verse, 
the Holy Ghost is promised on condition of repent- 
ance, and they who received the Word — that is, re- 
pented — from that time " did eat their meat with glad- 
ness, praising God." In the fourth chapter of Acts 
and thirty-first verse, it is declared that " they were 
all filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts vii, 55 : Stephen, 
triumphant in death, was " full of the Holy Ghost." 
In Acts ix, 17, Saul, who had been under conviction 
three days, without food or drink, received the Holy 
Ghost, and found relief. Peter's sermon in Acts x, 
44, was attended with the same result — the Holy 
Ghost fell on his hearers. In the thirteenth chapter 
and fifty-second verse, it is expressly declared, that 
the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy 
Ghost. 

Now we venture to affirm, that there never was a 



486 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



sermon preached by a Universalist minister in Amer- 
ica, in which the Holy Ghost is mentioned as an 
agent or cause, or necessary accompaniment of this 
joy. Another thing will be observed by the reader 
of the Acts, namely, as the gift of the Holy Ghost is 
necessary to religious joy, so repentance is a condi- 
tion of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Look again at 
the second chapter of Acts : Peter says, " Repent," 
etc., and "ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Ghost." Who ever heard of a Universalist minister 
preaching repentance ? Such a thing would be a 
wonder upon earth. Evangelical ministers preach re- 
pentance ; and the consequence is, that while the con- 
verted are full of joy, and of the Holy Ghost, the 
unconverted are pricked in their hearts, and cry out, 
" What shall we do ?" Religion is, hi its fruits, 
"righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
Ghost." But there are other states of mind produced 
by the doctrine of our sinfulness and repentance, 
through which every soul must pass before it can re- 
joice in God. The following texts of Scripture de- 
scribe those states : 

Ecclesiastes vii, 3 : " Sorrow is better than laugh- 
ter." Jeremiah xxxi, 25 : "I have satiated every weary 
soul, I have replenished every sorrowful soul." Zeph- 
aniah iii, 18: "I will gather them that are sorrowful 
for the solemn assembly." John xvi, 20 : " Your sor- 
row shall be turned into joy." John vii, 9-12 : "Ye 
sorrowed to repentance." Isaiah lvii, 18: "I will re- 
store comforts unto him and to his mourners." Isa. 
lix : "The Lord hath sent me to comfort all [not that 
laugh] that mourn, to give unto them that mourn in 



BLINDNESS OF UNIVERSALIS*!. 



487 



Zion beauty for ashes," etc. Joel ii, 12: "Turn ye 
unto me, saith the Lord, with all your heart, with 
fasting, with weeping, and mourning;" verse 13th: 
"Rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn 
unto the Lord your God." Zechariah xii, 10: "They 
shall look on him whom they have pierced, and 
mourn." 2 Kings xxii, 19: "Because thy heart was 
tender, and thou hast rent thy clothes, and wept be- 
fore me ; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord." 
Psalm vi, 8 : " The Lord hath heard the voice of my 
weeping." Psalm cxxvi, 5 : " They that sow in tears 
shall reap in joy." Jeremiah xxxi, 9 : " They shall 
come with weeping and supplications." Acts xx, 19 : 
" Serving the Lord with many tears." See also Psalm 
xxxiv, 18 ; li, 17 ; cxlvii, 3 ; Isaiah Ivii, 15, and lxvi, 2. 

Lastly: We recommend to Universalist preachers, 
those examples of ministerial concern and mourning 
for the sins of the people which abound in Holy Writ. 
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel mourned over the sins 
of the people, and the desolations of Zion. Joel i, 9 : 
" The priests, the Lord's ministers, mourned." Psalm 
cxix, 158: "I beheld the transgressors, and was 
grieved." Mark iii, 5: "Jesus was grieved for the 
hardness of their hearts." Romans ix, 2, 3 ; "I have 
great heaviness and continual sorrowing in my heart. 
For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my 
brethren, my kinsmen according to" the flesh." 

We leave it to the reader to judge where the con- 
trast lies; between the weeping Paul, who "warned 
all men night and day with tears',' and a -Fletcher, or 
a Russel Bigelow ; or between Paul and a professed 
minister of the Gospel who goes about the country 



488 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



to mock at sin, and ridicule the apprehension of its 
certain future punishment, turning the tears of the 
penitent into the jeer and scoff of skepticism. 



XV. 

SUPERSTITION— RELIGION. 

THESE are Latin words anglicized. Superstition 
is said by some of the ancients, Cicero particularly, 
to have been applied to those who offered daily prayers 
and sacrifices that their children might survive them — 
superstites essent. These praying ones were called, 
from superstites, their own devotional phraseology, su- 
per stitio si ; hence our superstitious. This reminds us 
of Mr. Wesley's sermon on enthusiasm ; and the heads 
of that discourse would serve admirably to describe 
several sorts of superstition. We substitute super- 
stition for enthusiasm in some of his divisions. 

The first sort of superstition is that of those who 
imagine they have the grace that they have not. A 
second sort of superstition is that of those who imagine 
they have the gifts that they have not. To this class 
belong those who imagine themselves to be influenced 
in preaching or praying by the Spirit of God when 
they are not. 

To this kind of superstition those are peculiarly ex- 
posed who expect to be directed in spiritual things in 
an extraordinary manner — as by dreams, strong im- 
pressions, or sudden impulses. 



THE MORAL LA W THE LA W OF NA TURE. 489 

A third kind of superstition is thinking to attain 
the end without the use of the means. Alas ! how- 
much superstition there is in the world, and especially 
among the irreligious and profane ! 

Religion is from religio ; and Cicero says, in his 
book, De Natura Deorum, that "its name was from 
those who, not satisfied with what was taught orally 
concerning the worship of the gods, perused the writ- 
ings of past times. From re, again, and lego, I read, 
they were termed religiosi" If Cicero was correct, 
which some of the fathers deny, it is very essential to 
the character of a religionist that he devote himself 
to the study of those Scriptures which explain and 
inculcate the doctrines of his religion ; the Christian, 
of course, should study his Bible. 



THE MORAL LAW THE LAW OF NATURE. 

"T^HOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD." Why 



JL shall we love him ? In answer to this inquiry, 
some suggest superficial reasons, such as would lead 
us to infer that the command is arbitrary. We must 
love God, they say, because we are his creatures. He 
made us, and not we ourselves. " A few years since," 
says one, " I had no being ; no power of thought, of 
will, or of' motion ; no susceptibility to suffering of 
any kind, pleasurable or painful. As all my faculties 
were received from God, I am bound to employ them 
according to his will. Besides, I am fearfully and 



XVI. 




490 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



wonderfully made. There are, in the structure of my 
body, and in the economy of my mind, such displays 
of power, and wisdom, and goodness, as mark me as 
the workmanship of an artist who is, who must be, 
worthy of my supreme regard and veneration. How, 
then, can I refuse to obey when he commands me to 
love him?" This reasoning is correct as far as it 
goes, but it goes only a little way in illustrating the 
ground of our obligation to love God. Suppose God 
had not made us, and no reason could be urged from 
his creating goodness why we should love him ? 
Nay, further ; suppose that up to this very moment 
we had received no favor from God, but in our being 
and attributes had always been absolutely inde- 
pendent of his providence, would there be no neces- 
sity for us to love him ? Could we, because these 
grounds of obligation were taken away, safely refuse 
to love him ? Doubtless we could, so far as his agency 
in punishing is concerned, But, if our natures, and 
God's nature, were what they now are, we must still 
love God, or we must be miserable. Do you ask, 
Why ? Because such is the constitution of the human 
soul, that the love of God, and it alone, can produce 
therein a state of perfect peace. The presence and 
love of God are as necessary to the soul's satisfaction, 
as are bread and water to the hungry or the thirsty. 
The precept which demands love to God is called by 
the Savior the " greatest commandment." It is the 
greatest, not only because God is worthy of our su- 
preme regard, because it is the highest claim which 
can be urged against us ; but, also, because the sen- 
timent of love to God concerns our happiness more 



THE MORAL LA W THE LA W OF NA TURE. 49 1 



than all other things combined. The love of God 
creates a paradise in the soul which no external power 
can invade, which no outward storms can desolate. 
On the other hand, he who does not love God, has 
within him a scene of moral desolation, which no out- 
ward sunshine can cheer. 

In commanding us to love him, then, God has been 
governed not by the knowledge of his own rights 
alone. He has been careful of the human as well as 
of the Divine prerogative. He has sought the bliss 
of the creature as well as the honor of the Creator. 
Were we, this moment, released from the law, and ad- 
vised by the Supreme Legislator that hereafter he 
would inflict no penalty for any possible course of hu- 
man thought, or passion, or action, it is plain that in 
such a case we must henceforth be a law unto our- 
selves. Whatever law might then exist, requiring us 
to love God, must arise from our constitutional want 
and susceptibility. Now, in such a case, we must 
still feel in our bosom an "aching void," a painful 
sense of the absence of something which our souls 
were constituted to enjoy, and the want of which 
would create a ceaseless craving totally inconsistent 
with a peaceful and satisfied state. 

The same principle applies to the entire moral code. 
If God had not commanded justice, truth, and benev- 
olence toward our fellow-men, or temperance and 
chastity in respect to ourselves, and if he had threat- 
ened no formal punishment of the contrary vices ; 
yet, constituted as we are, the former virtues would 
be as necessary as now to the welfare and happiness 
of society, and their opposite vices would work their 



492 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



own punishment in the social system. And so, also, 
temperance and chastity would be as necessary to 
personal health and happiness as now, and their op- 
posites would work out the same ruin in a course of 
natural consequences then as they now do, under the 
administration of public prohibitory law. Thus, the 
public, or written law, is not the source of obligation 
so much as the measure and rule of it. Neither are 
the historic facts, defining our relation to God as 
creatures, the proper source of obligation, but rather 
the collateral proofs and enhancing occasions of it. 
But, the source of obligation to love God, and hence 
to obey and trust him in all things, lies in the nature 
of God and the nature of man. The written law is 
the publication of a law antecedently written in our 
nature, that is, antecedently made necessary to our 
happiness by the constitution and law T s of our being. 
In a word, God's precepts are reasonable, having their 
foundation in nature, and consulting the attributes of 
the creature as well as those of the Creator. This 
first commandment to love God is called the greatest 
not only in regard to the supreme obligations which 
it recognizes and enforces, but also in regard to the 
supreme bliss which it will confer on the obedient 
creature. The most striking reasons of its suprem- 
acy have been too generally overlooked. Those which 
are superficial are noticed and dwelt upon, but those 
which are most subduing to the heart — subduing, be- 
cause they strikingly display the goodness of God as 
our Lord and King — are found in the perfect adapta- 
tion of the law to the constitution and wants of the 
human soul. 



RELIGION OF NATURE AND OF GRACE. 493 



XVII. 



THE RELIGION OF NATURE AND OF GRACE. 
T3 ELIGION, as it is exhibited in the Scriptures, 



cords. It views man as made for two worlds, and 
teaches him how to secure the happiness of both. 
Did it limit his attention to either it would not be 
adapted to his prospects. But, blessed be Infinite Wis- 
dom, it bears him provision for all states, whether pres- 
ent or future. It can supply all his wants, whether 
temporal or eternal A system suited to God's inno- 
cent moral subjects, could ^answer no saving pur- 
pose for sinful man. We hear talk about the re- 
ligion of nature. What does it mean ? It means 
something ordinary in God's administration, such as 
goodness rewarding, or justice punishing, according 
to the moral bearing of God's subjects. What could 
this do for man, but leave him in his sins until the 
appointed hour, and then chain him in everlasting 
darkness ? Those traits of God's government which 
nature reveals, and which his unexplained providence 
indicates, will do for angels who never sinned. They 
will do for devils who shall never be forgiven. So, 
too, will they do for man if he be sinless ; or if he be 
doomed to sin, and suffer everlastingly. But toward 
the happiness of man as a sinner, the religion of na- 
ture can contribute nothing. It affords not a solitary 
lesson on a subject of such overpowering interest. It 
plants not one star of hope in the obscure moral firm- 




harmony. It has no dis- 



494 



THEOLOGICAL ESSAYS. 



ament which it spreads around him. The religion of 
nature is excellent in its place. To whomsoever it is 
suited, it is like air and food to healthy constitutions 
and craving appetites. But to sinners it is like sweet- 
meats given to the dying ; instead of bringing refresh- 
ment, it hastens dissolution. The religion of nature ! 
It has a song of sweet and melting strains. But the 
pure alone can understand and relish it. It is not 
music in the sinner's ear. It makes no provision for 
the pardon of the guilty. It provides no mediator. 
It offers no help or sympathy for the penitent. Na- 
ture is a system of law, not of Gospel It points the 
sinner to no cross, no Christ. It points him to the 
shroud, the coffin, and the grave — to scenes of judg- 
ment and "fiery indignation." But how different is it 
in the Gospel ! Here Mercy, like the youngest born 
of heaven, lifts up her voice, and sings a new song. 
" Glory to God in the highest [mark that diapason], 
on earth peace, good-will toward man J" Is this by 
the ordinary providence of God ? Could he look with 
good-will upon rebels for whom justice had laid up 
stores ofwrath ? O, no ! How is it, then, that peace 
has come to earth, and "good-will" to its rebellious 
sons? "Unto you is born this day a Savior, who is 
Christ the Lord." This is the first strain in Mercy's 
song. She must begin here, or — never. She could 
have no other occasion to break her everlasting si 
lence. She must sing by the manger or the cross — 
no other scenes could warrant or inspire her song 

Remember, as you read, that while the religion of 
nature consigns us to despair, the religion of the Gos- 
pel inspires us with hope. While that leaves us in 



RELIGION OF NATURE AND OF GRACE. 495 

our sins, separates us from the holy, and sets us as a 
mark for the arrows of the Almighty, this (O, blessed 
Jesus, we thank thee !) washes us from our sins, unites 
us to God, and makes us joint-heirs with Christy his 
Son. 



THE END. 



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